THE LIFE 



JAMES ARMINIUS, D.D., 

PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY LX THE UNIVERSITY OF LEYDEN, HOLLAXD. 



TRANSLATED 

FROM THE LATIN OF CASPAR BRANDT, 

REMONSTRANT MINISTER, AMSTERDAM, 
BY 

JOHN GUTHRIE, A.M. 



WITH AN INTRODUCTION, 

BY THOMAS 0. SUMMERS, D.D. 

Paratus seque discere ac docere.— Armtxius. 



Nasfjbtlle, fenn,: 

PUBLISHED BY E. STEVENSON & F. A. OWEN, AGENTS, 

FOR THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH. 

1857. 



.31 



In ^change 

ike Univere 
MAY 7 - 1934 



Duke University ' 



STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY A. A. STITT, 
SOUTHERN METHODIST PUBLISHING HOUSE, NASHVILLE, TENN. 



Contents. 



PAGE 

Introduction by the American Editor v 

Translator's Preface xiii 

Dedication by the Editor, Gerard Brandt xxi 

Prefatory Note xxv 

CHAPTER I. 
Early life and education of Arminius, till the commencement of his 
ministry in Amsterdam. — A.D. 1560-1588 81 

CHAPTER II. 
Transition stage of Arminius's mind on the subject of Predestination, 
with the circumstances in which it originated, and the troubles to 
which it led.— A. D. 1589-1592 60 

CHAPTER III. 
Arminius, in expounding Romans ix., encounters fresh storms — Con- 
futes the calumnies of Plancius ; and corresponds, on points in dis- 
pute, with Gellius Snecanus and Francis Junius. — A.D. 1592- 
1597 86 

CHAPTER IV. 
Latense ardor of Arminius in investigating Divine truth, with con- 
nected incidents ; and his devoted and benevolent pastoral labors 
at the time of the plague.— A.D. 1597-1602 112 

CHAPTER V. 

Arminius's call to a theological professorship in Leyden, and the 
active opposition to which it gave rise. — A.D. 1602, 1603 182 

CHAPTER VI. 
Further prosecution and successful issue of Arminius's call to the 

professorship.— A.D. 1603 160 

(iii) 



IV CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VII. 

Discussions of Arminius at Leyden, especially on the subject of Pre- 
destination ; and consequent opposition of Gomarus. — A. D. 1603, 
r 1604.... 187 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Suspicions against Arminius, and rigorous measures •with his students 
— Fresh dispiitations — Commencement of ecclesiastical proceedings. 
— A.D. 1604, 1605 208 

CHAPTER IX. 

Ecclesiastical excitement, and proceedings with a -view to a National 
Synod — Fresh Calumnies against Arminius. — A.D. 1605-1607.. 236 

CHAPTER X. 

Convention at the Hague to arrange the preliminaries of a National 
Synod — Misrepresentation of Arminius and his adherents for the 
opinions they there expressed — His letters to Drusius and Hippoly- 
tus a Collibus.— A.D. 1607, 1608 272 

CHAPTER XI. 

Conference at the Hague in May, 1608 — Arminius replies to thirty- 
one defamatory articles, falsely ascribed to him and Adrian Borrius. 
— A.D. 1608 308 

CHAPTER XII. 

Ever-increasing contentions, amid which the health of Arminius gives 
way — Final Conference at the Hague in August, 1609 — His last 
illness and death.— A.D. 1609 349 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Sketch of the person and character of Arminius ; with a variety of 
testimonies in regard to him, both from friends and foes. — A. D. 
1609 376 

Appendix 401 



Iitinhuiicn. 



It is a matter of surprise that, among all the biographies 
of great men issued from the religious press in Britain and 
America, there should have been, till recently, no Life of 
Arminius, except a short sketch prefixed to his Works, and a 
small volume compiled by Dr. Bangs. The wonder is the 
greater, as there have been various biographies of Luther, 
Calvin, Cranmer, and other reformers and distinguished 
divines. 

It cannot be said that Arminius was not ecpial in learning 
and piety to others whose Lives constitute a portion of the 
permanent literature of the Church; as, in both these respects, 
he has had few superiors, and not many equals. 

Nor can it be said that there has been no necessity to pub- 
lish a biography of this excellent man. Perhaps no one that 
ever lived has been more misrepresented and misunderstood 
than Jam^s Arminius. Even while he was living, his virulent 
and unscrupulous enemies did not hesitate to rank him with 
Socinus, Pelagius, and the pope; and but for the interven- 
tion and protection of the civil power, he might have shared 
the fate of Servetus, with whom he was suggestively com- 

(v) 



VI INTRODUCTION. 

pared. Although these slanders were openly met and tri- 
umphantly refuted by Arminius himself, to whose masterly 
defences those who symbolize with his views have con- 
stantly appealed in proof of his orthodoxy, yet the calum- 
nious allegations have survived from age to age, and even in 
our own time the Calvinistic pulpit and press give them no 
infrequent endorsement. Who has not heard Arminians 
ranked with Pelagians, Socinians, and Papists, and that too 
by men occupying distinguished positions in Calvinistic 
churches ? Who has not heard Arminius represented as a 
wrangling, contentious, ambitious man — subtle, unscrupu- 
lous, hypocritical ? John Calvin, notwithstanding his bit- 
terness of spirit, to say nothing of his " horrible decree," is 
crowned as an apostle of the Church, while James Arminius 
is condemned as an heretical apostate ! The substantial 
orthodoxy, pacific disposition, and fervent piety of Arminius, 
were, indeed, admitted by many of his Calvinistic contem- 
poraries, and not a few of their successors have done the 
same ; but still the slanderous misrepresentations survive. It 
is quite likely that many who retail them believe what they 
assert. Under the influence of the odium iheologicum, they 
are but too ready to "take up a reproach" against one who 
levelled so fatal a blow at their cherished dogmas ; neverthe- 
less, they believe what they assert, and scarcely any effort has 
been made to disabuse their minds on the subject. This 
might be readily done by placing in their hands an authentic 
Life of the man whom they have unwittingly aspersed. 

That this has not been done, we repeat, is somewhat sur- 
prising, especially as more than half the Christian world agrees 



INTRODUCTION. Y11 

with Arruinius in those points in which he differs from Calvin, 
and may therefore be supposed to be interested in the fair 
fame of one by whose name these views have been designated. 

But to this it may be said, the Life of such a man as 
Arminius, who spent but little time in courts, and none in 
camps, whose days were occupied in the comparatively noise- 
less pursuits of literature and theology — a man, too, of singu- 
larly retiring and pacific disposition — would present compara- 
tively few points of general interest ; in a word, would not be 
likely to prove a popular biography. All this is very true. 
TVe do not expect that the present volume will have what 
bibliopolists call "a great run." But may we not expect that 
it will be read by all, whether friends or foes, who are the 
leaders of public opinion in regard to prominent men and 
great theological questions — all, that is, who want to know 
the facts in the case, and not be associated, wittingly or un- 
wittingly, with those who bear false witness against their 
neighbor, and lie against the truth ? 

Candid men of all parties, who have read the Works of 
Arminius, and his Life by Brandt, in the original Latin, have 
admitted, and many of them have admired, the sincere and 
ardent piety of the man, and endorsed the essential orthodoxy 
of his creed. But those who occupy what is called the Ar- 
minian platform have not generally been disposed to call 
themselves Arminians; and have not felt themselves specially 
set for the defence of the character of this illustrious man. 

A kind of semi-Pelagianism in the Church of England, and 
semi-Socinianism in the churches of New England, by some 
strange means, obtained the name of Arminianism, and this 
naturally induced a shyness and reserve in reference to this 



Vlll INTRODUCTION. 

title. Orthodox Christians, though repudiating the enormous 
errors of Calvinism, did not want to be identified, in common 
estimation, with those heterodox systems which lie on the 
other extreme. Besides, many of those who side with Ar- 
minius in the quinquarticular controversy are known by other 
designations, as Lutherans, Wesleyan Methodists, etc. Many 
of 'them, too — particularly the Methodists of this country — 
have a great aversion even to seem to call any man master. 
As Methodists, they have a greater interest in John Wesley 
than in any one else, yet they do not affect to be styled Wes- 
leyans — they are not officially recognized as such. 

Moreover, in common with all who take" the Arminian view 
of the Five Points, they contend that this is the catholic view — 
that it has always been held by the Eastern Church — that it 
was held universally in the Western Church, till the unhappy 
controversy took place between Pelagius and Augustin, when 
the latter in opposing one error went over to another — that 
the endorsers of Augustinianism were always a minority in 
the Western Church down to the times of the Reformation — 
that it never was cast into logical form until the time of 
Calvin — that although, through his influence, it was embo- 
died with less or more distinctiveness in many of the Re- 
formed Confessions, yet it was never able to displace the 
broad, generous, scriptural system which it sought to supplant 
— and that it has been so modified from time to time as that, 
in many cases, its avowed supporters can scarcely show any 
difference between it and that which they professedly oppose; 
while not a few, missing the via media, have gone over to 
semi-Pelagianism, or what has been significantly denominated 
New Divinity. 



INTRODUCTION. IX 

It is not difficult, therefore, to discover why the Life and 
Writings of Arminius have not been made more prominent 
in the controversies which Arminians, so called, have waged 
with their Calvinistic opponents. 

It cannot, however, be questioned, and there is no reason 
why it should not be admitted, that the logical acuteness, 
Christian temper, and unbending firmness of Arminius, en- 
title him to a high rank among the assertors of conditional 
predestination, general redemption, and cognate points. His 
ability, prudence, and piety arrested the rampant progress of 
Calvinism in the Low Countries; and Grotius, Episcopius, 
the Brandts, and other illustrious men of the succeeding age, 
would have completed what he began, had not the arm of 
persecution interposed; but confiscation of goods, imprison- 
ment, banishment, and death, did for the Remonstrants in 
Holland what was done by the same Christian agencies in 
reference to the Reformed in France by their popish perse- 
cutors — that which in neither case could be done by persua- 
ion and argument. No: not so much as that; for, perse- 
cuted as they were, the Remonstrants achieved much in the 
cause of civil and religious liberty — they softened the asperities 
of the prevalent theology; and now, despite their creeds 
and confessions, many of the reputed Calvinists of the Re- 
formed Dutch Church preach the faith which their fathers 
sought to destroy. The Huguenots in France produced no 
such effects as these : no such reactionary influences resulted 
from their labors and sufferings for the truth. 

A prominent reason why Arminius should ever be recog- 
nized with peculiar distinction, is found in the spirit and 
1* 



X INTRODUCTION. 

motives of all his proceedings. While he opposed error, he 
abhorred schism. He was willing to abide by the Belgic 
Confession, provided he was allowed the same latitude of inter- 
pretation as was allowed to those who subscribed the Augs- 
burgh and Anglican Confessions — at least, until another 
Confession might be set forth by competent authority. The 
Belgic Confession was drawn up by certain parties in the 
beginning of the Reformation in the Low Countries, to sub- 
serve a specific purpose, and was never designed to be binding 
in all its details upon those who subscribed it as containing, 
for substance, the true Christian doctrine, especially in oppo- 
sition to Popery. When Gromarus and others wished to put a 
strict construction upon it, and enforce it upon all, Arminius 
felt himself bound to withstand the arrogant attempt; and in 
so doing he did just what he ought to have done. And as 
the Reformed Church was in an inchoative state, he did right 
to retain his ecclesiastical position, though his despotic col- 
league and others attempted to eject him from the pulpit and 
the chair. 

In the circumstances in which we are placed, we could not, 
of course, subscribe the Belgic Confession ; but the case was 
very different with Arminius. He had subscribed it before 
there was any occasion for him to challenge any of its details : 
he had subscribed it as a Protestant Confession, upon the 
recognized Protestant principle of his paramount fealty to the 
Bible, the ultimate standard of faith and practice. Occupy- 
ing, by appointment of the state, a distinguished post as a 
theologian in the University, it was his duty to use his learn- 
ing and influence to briug it into conformity with the Divine 



INTRODUCTION. XI 

standard rather than renounce it. That was what he tried to 
do; and so great were his prudence, patience, and perse- 
verance, that he would have succeeded in his design, to the 
no small profit of the Church, had he not been so maliciously 
and enviously opposed by Gomarus and others. 

His position in regard to the dogma of the inamissibility 
of grace is strikingly illustrative of his cautious and moderate 
spirit. This is unquestionably a dangerous doctrine, and, from 
its logical connection with absolute predestination, could not 
have been otherwise viewed by Arininius; yet as it is not, like 
the latter, so shocking to our reason, and so injurious to the 
Divine character, he was disposed to keep the controversy in 
reference to it in abeyance; and so of the Calvinistic doctrine 
of imputation and other points. Headlong, headstrong men 
are not the best reformers. Those changes which are cau- 
tiously, quietly, and gradually produced, are not only likely to 
be the most scriptural, but also the most permanent, espe- 
cially when the agents by which they are produced are cha- 
racterized by a love of truth rather than a lust for controversy. 

The willingness manifested by Arminius, TJitenbogaert, 
Episcopius, Grotius, Brandt, and other Remonstrants, to sub- 
scribe a Confession in which all the grand essentials of Chris- 
tianity should be sharply defined, while the points in debate 
between them and the Gomarists should be omitted, so that 
both parties might subscribe it without any compromise or 
inconvenience, is also illustrative of the liberal catholic spirit 
of these excellent men. It is the belief of many in all the 
orthodox communions of the present day, that the substitution 
of such a symbol — one, for instance, like the Twenty-five Arti- 



Xll INTRODUCTION. 

cles of the Methodist Confession — in place of those Confes- 
sions -which embody the disputed points in question, will take 
place at no very distant day; and already some Presbyterian 
churches have a creed of this general character, which they 
use at the reception of members, in place of the Westminster 
Confession, which they reserve for ministers and elders, many 
of whom, by the way, subscribe it with reservation, as they 
do not, cannot believe its Calvinistic dogmas. 

The Life of Arminius, in view of its connection with 
polemical theology, is a study. It must not be read like 
an ordinary volume of religious biography — it should be pon- 
dered and reviewed with great care and attention. Written 
by the learned son of a learned sire, the disciple and friend 
of Arminius, the work is erudite and genial, while it is im- 
partial and just. Of this it affords abundant internal evi- 
dence; indeed, so far as any eulogy of Arminius is concerned, 
some of his candid theological opponents are more lavish 
than his admiring biographer. 

The style of the work is of course conformed to that which 
obtained two centuries and a half ago. This to us is one of 
its great recommendations : so we judge it was to the learned 
and judicious translator; as he appears to have preserved it, 
so far as the different idioms of the Latin and English tongues 
would allow. It is very clear that Caspar Brandt put forth 
his best efforts to produce a work worthy of his subject, and 
that Mr. Gruthrie has successfully endeavored to reproduce it 
in a faithful idiomatic translation. 

Thomas 0. Summers. 

Nashville, Tenn., March 1, 1857. 



%xnmhlnfB ffitiin. 



The name of Brandt is imperishably associated with the 
literature of Holland. Gerard Brandt, a Remonstrant (or 
Arminian) minister and professor at Amsterdam, published, 
in 1671, that great work, "The History of the Reformation 
in the Low Countries," which has elicited very general admi- 
ration for the impartiality of its spirit, the nobility of its 
sentiments, and the valuable and soul-stirring character of 
many of its records. 

This eminent historian and divine was the father of our 
biographer, Caspar Brandt, who was also a minister of the 
Remonstrants at Amsterdam. Caspar drew up that life of 
Arminius, a translation of which is presented in this volume, 
about the beginning of the eighteenth century; but died 
just as he was preparing to put it to the press. After several 
years' delay, it was at last edited and published by his son, 
Gerard, at Amsterdam, in 1724, and republished, with anno- 
tations, by the ecclesiastical historian, Mosheim, in 1725. 

That Caspar was no unworthy son of the eminent historian 
of the Belgic Reformation will sufficiently appear, we trust, 

(xiii) 



XIV TRANSLATORS PREFACE. 

from the following pages, even under the confessed disadvan- 
tages of translation. He has here developed some of the 
finest qualities of the biographer — great candor and charity ; 
consummate judgment and taste in the selection of his mate- 
rials; and scholarly execution in weaving them into a sym- 
metrical whole. Stirring incident in the life of a theologian 
is what no considerate reader will expect; and certain por- 
tions of this memoir, owing to the subjects treated, can hardly 
fail to be regarded by some as dry and abstruse; but no one 
can deny it — what many ingenuous inquirers, we trust, will 
feel to be an unspeakable charm — the merit of presenting a 
faithful and full-length portrait of the man Arminius, and no 
small insight into the state and spirit of his times. 

The name of Arminius stands identified with that gigantic 
recoil from Calvinism, than which no reaction in nature could 
have been more certainly predicted. Of all the actors in that 
movement, so fertile of mighty actors, no one played a more 
conspicuous, important, and trying part than Arminius. 

To high talent and cultivation, and to consummate ability 
as a disputant, Arminius added the ornament of spotless 
Christian consistency, (his enemies being judges,) and of a 
singularly noble, manly, and benevolent nature. This, with 
his conspicuous position, made his personal influence to be 
very potent and extensive. 

And yet, few names have ever been overshadowed by a 
deeper and denser gloom of prejudice than his; to utter 
which, as Wesley remarked, was much the same, in some 
ears, as to raise the cry of " mad dog." This is attributable 
partly to the latitudinarianism of some of his followers, who, 



TRANSLATORS PREFACE. XV 

revolting at the dominant faith, and maddened hy oppression, 
resiled to the opposite extreme; and partly by the accidental 
circumstance that his milder scheme found general favor in 
the Church of England, at a time when she stood in hostile 
relations to the English Puritans and the Scottish Presbyte- 
rians. But these were results with which neither the man 
Arminius, nor the Arminian principle of conditionalism, had 
any thing whatever to do. To trace them to him were not 
more just than to trace German Neology to Luther and Me- 
lancthon, and Genevan Socinianism to Calvin. 

That the early Arminians had some Erastian leanings, was 
less their fault than their fate. On this point, at least, their 
high-handed opponents have no room to speak. Very plausi- 
ble, no doubt, was the clamor of the Gomarists to have eccle- 
siastical causes tried by ecclesiastical courts ; and safe, as well 
as plausible, for they were the dominant party ; but to ascribe 
this to any just principles of religious liberty would be to 
betray sheer ignorance of the men and the times. What the 
Gomarists wished was full scope, in the first place, for their 
high-handed majority to condemn the Arminians in due eccle- 
siastical form; and then to demand from Csesar, for the 
plenary execution of their decrees, the unshackled use of the 
secular arm. Bogermann, the zealous foe of the Arminians, 
and the president of the Synod of Dort, by which the Ar- 
minians were condemned, was one of the translators of Beza's 
treatise of punishing heretics with death, and pressed the 
Dutch magistrates with the sentiment " that to tolerate more 
religions than one in a state, was to make peace with Satan." 
Though driven by their circumstances to seek shelter under 



xvi translator's preface. 

the protective arm of the State, the Arminians were not the 
less the strenuous champions at once of civil and religious 
liberty; and to their heroic endurance is it owing that, from 
being one of the most exclusive, Holland has become one of 
the most tolerant countries in Europe — a result in which a 
modern German writer recognizes, not without reason, the 
fulfilment of a very important part of their mission.* After 
the rupture between the great Arminian statesmen and Prince 
Maurice, to whose grasping ambition they refused to immolate 
the young liberties of the Dutch Republic, the Gomarists, 
seiziug their opportunity, and postponing patriotism to party, 
paid court to the Prince, who forthwith turned his back on 
the Arminians, and threw all his weight into the opposite 
scale. This policy smoothed the way for the summary mea- 
sures of the Synod of Port, with its tragic issues to the 
Arminians, — deposition, suppression, expatriation, — yea, in- 
carceration, and even death. Hundreds of clergymen were 
deposed. Multitudes who refused (though plied with the 
bribe of a comfortable maintenance) to abstain from preach- 
ing, were sent into exile. Even organists of churches were 
compelled to sign the canons of the Synod of Port. The 
Leyden Professors of whatever faculty who refused to do so, 
were displaced, and recusant students expelled. Arminian 
assemblies, held in the face of pains and penalties, were some- 
times converted by a ruthless soldiery into scenes of blood. 

* Ihre Mission war auch zum grossen Theile vollendet, da Holland 
immer mehr ein Land religiosen Duldung ward. (Real Encyklopadie 
fiir Prot. Theol. und Kirche. P. 529.) 



translator's peeface. xvii 

The self-denying persistence of the persecuted Arminians was 
worthy, so long as their days of trial lasted, of our own fore- 
fathers in the days of the Covenant. The million guilders of 
the Synod's expenses were the least part of its cost to Hol- 
land. At the very time it closed its sittings, three great 
Arminian statesmen, whose names occur in this biography, — 
Grotius, Hoogerbeets, and Oldenbarneveldt, — were in prison ; 
the two former being condemned to perpetual imprisonment; 
the last, who had already turned his period of threescore years 
and ten, was led forth, a few days after the close of the Synod, 
to expiate on the scaffold his only crime — incorruptible 
patriotism. 

We allude to these facts not for the invidious purpose of 
tracing the spirit of persecution exclusively to any one creed, 
(though some creeds distil it more copiously than others,) but 
partly to vindicate the original Arminians from exaggerated 
charges of Erastianism, as what their Gomarist opponents did 
much more to incur; and partly as appropriate supplemental 
information, as far as it goes, to that contained in the follow- 
ing memoir, which narrates the causes that ripened into the 
results described, ten years after Arminius had found an 
asylum in the grave. 

The English Reformation having for its doctrinal basis the 
mild views of Melancthon, Arminianism (which was a virtual 
revolt from Calvin to Melancthon) has all along powerfully 
influenced the theology of England. And yet, beyond the 
old translation (in 1672) of Bertius's funeral oration over 
Arminius, and brief gleanings from this memoir in our larger 
works of reference, we know of no English Life of the great 



XV111 TRANSLATORS PREFACE, 

Arminius, till, with a zeal, ability, and erudition worthy of 
his great theme, Mr. James Nichols, of London, addressed 
himself to the task in the memoir prefixed to the first volume 
of his translation of the works of Arminius. The present 
translation of Brandt was nearly completed before we laid our 
hands on the two volumes of Mr. Nichols, (for the third is 
still due,) but on doing so, we found, as we expected, that 
his task and ours in no way interfered. Our object was to 
meet the prejudice (especially in Scotland) associated with 
the name of Arminius, by a translation of the classic and 
authentic memoir by Brandt, in a form which, while tasteful, 
should be of a price to make it accessible to the masses of 
the people. Now, Mr. Nichols's Life of Arminius forms part 
of a large and necessarily expensive work, which is not yet 
completed; and though Brandt's Memoir is incorporated, it 
is in a dislocated form, in scattered notes and appendices, 
while considerable portions are omitted, or reserved for the 
third volume. In 1843, Dr. Bangs, of New York, compiled 
from the pages of Nichols a Life of Arminius in a form 
better adapted to the popular object we had in view; but 
being professedly but a miniature of Nichols's, it partakes of 
the same heterogeneous and fragmentary character; contain- 
ing portions, indeed, of Brandt, but portions also from other 
sources, including large extracts from the works of Arminius. 
A simple and continuous edition of Brandt's Life of Arminius 
was yet wanting; and this, without interference with the 
respected authors named, and as a fellow-worker in the same 
cause, we have endeavored to supply in the present publica- 
tion. 



TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. XIX 

Of the manner in -which we have executed our task we 
leave the public to judge; merely observing, that while labor- 
ing throughout to harmonize, to the best of our judgment, 
these sometimes refractory compatibilities, fidelity to our 
author's Latin on the one hand, and to our reader's vernacu- 
lar on the other, we have allowed the scale to preponderate, 
where preponderate it must, on the side of literality rather 
than of elegance. 

Our object in this publication is something more than a 
vindication of the injured character of Arininius. "Were all 
such wrongs to be thus righted, " I suppose that even the 
world itself ceuld not contain the books that should be writ- 
ten." There are multitudes of injured characters which, for 
any practical requirement, can well afford to lie over (as 
Whitefield said of his) till they be cleared up in the light of 
the judgment-day. But there are other characters — other 
transacted lives — which not to know, or to mis-know, is a loss 
to the world. Of such sort we believe the memory of Armin- 
ius to be : a memory so beautiful that even those who are 
constrained to dissent from Arminius the theologian, may yet 
profitably contemplate and sympathetically admire Arminius 
the noble-minded, benevolent, and Christian man. For this 
and such ends, may God graciously accompany this little work 
with his blessing ! 

John Guthrie. 

Greenock, 20th Sept., 1854. 



DEDICATION BY THE EDITOR, GERARD BRANDT. 



EMINENTLY PIOUS AND LEARNED 

LAM BEET DROST 

AND 

GEORGE a ZONHOVEN, 

THE FAITHFCL PASTORS OF THE REMONSTRANT CHURCH AT HAARLEM AND LEYDEN, 

GERARD BRANDT 

greeting : 

Reverend Sirs: 

Special reasons exist, over and above the common interest 
you feel in literature and learned men, which have induced 
me to dedicate to you, in particular, the life, composed by 
my father, of James Arminius — a name of no mean lustre in 
Holland during the last century. For whether I reflect on 
the degree of veneration with which you hold sacred the 
memory and the doctrine of that incomparable man, or recall 
to mind the very close tie of friendship which you contracted 
with the author while he lived, or consider, finally, the favor- 
able regard toward me personally which you have repeatedly 

(xxi) 



XX11 DEDICATION. 

evidenced by no dubious proofs, I shall have no difficulty in 
satisfying any competent judge that I have the best reasons 
indeed for dedicating to you this production of my father. 

For if to acknowledge favors may be regarded as part of a 
grateful return, what can better become me than to bear 
public testimony to the kindness which you have thrown 
around me from my tender years ? Not unfrequently have 
you counselled me, in the slippery period of youth, to con- 
template, as in a mirror, the lives of my ancestors, that 
thence I might derive examples of virtue and learning, and 
that, roused from the slumber of inaction by the trophies of 
hereditary fame, I might ply my studies with alacrity in the 
liberal arts. You have not hesitated by your counsels, admo- 
nitions, and every variety of kind offices, to lighten the 
burdens of orphanage, yea, and to admit me in my riper 
years into your intimate friendship; in short, you have at 
no time suffered any advantage to be shut in my face. 

But, to crown all, by getting your names prefixed to this 
work, I flatter myself that I have found fit defenders of 
Arminius ; for not only is it your endeavor, from a regard at 
once to your office and to conscience, to maintain and defend 
his doctrine, but, that the good cause may not lack advocacy, 
you have, in concert with others, undertaken the care and 
charge of examining, and elevating to sacred functions, the 
young men who, as the hopes of the Kemonstrant Church, 
are in course of training under the auspices of the illustrious 
Cattenburg. 

I might enlarge, were it not that I have found you to be as 
loth to admit these commendations, as I have found other 



DEDICATION. XX1U 

men willing to tear them ; for virtue has in itself this distin- 
guishing feature, that it would rather be honored with a quiet 
admiration, and commended in silence, than eulogized in 
fulsome terms. Accept then, this memorial, such as it is, of 
my regard and esteem for you, which, in token of a grateful 
spirit, I adorn with your names. Should you be kindly 
disposed to honor it with your patronage, I shall have the 
satisfaction of reflecting that a debt has been discharged to 
the memory of Arminius, to the labor of my father, and to 
my own earnest wishes. It only remains that I pour out a 
heartfelt prayer to the ever-blessed God, that he would long 
spare you in health, most excellent Sirs, for the good of your 
Church, and of all the Remonstrants; and that you may 
grant me a continuance of your favorable regard. 

Amsterdam, May 1, 1724. 



GERARD BRANDT. 



Before addressing yourself, courteous reader, to the peru- 
sal of this little work, there are a few things which I think it 
needful to state in the outset. Nearly thirty years have 
elapsed since my father, Caspar Brandt, of blessed memory, 
began to spend his leisure hours in penning a life of the cele- 
brated James Arminius; and in order that the entire Chris- 
tian world might be the better able to judge of the piety and 
doctrine of that great man, whose name had been bandied 
about in various rumors, (even as citizens the best deserving, 
whether in the State or the Church, have not always a lot 
worthy of their endeavors, and envy, like an inseparable 
shadow, is the usual concomitant of glory and virtue,) he 
thought it advisable to frame his narrative in Latin, in prefer- 
ence to doing so in his vernacular tongue. The materials of 
the work were furnished, not merely by the literary remains, 
previously published, of Peter Bertius, John Uitenbogaerdt, 
2 (xsv) 



XXVI PEEFATORY NOTE. 

and other distinguished men of that century, but also by not 
a few manuscript papers of theirs, and of Arminius himself, 
of which hitherto no public use had been made. At last, 
having all but applied a finishing-touch to the memoir, and 
while making arrangements for committing the work to the 
press, he was snatched from the stage of time, leaving myself 
and many good men to bewail his loss. 

He had made me heir of almost all his manuscripts : among 
these was this Life of Arminius, which, as I was not yet of 
age to manage my own affairs, was intrusted, in the usual way, 
to the faith and custody of a guardian, at whose death it 
passed into other hands, and there lay concealed for a good 
many years ; till at last, upward of two years ago, I recov- 
ered it from its possessor. Impelled, accordingly, by the 
dictate of filial affection, and by a regard to the memory of 
James Arminius, I send forth to the public this fruit of my 
father's mental toil. I have thought it proper to premise 
these things to vindicate myself from the unmerited censure 
of some, who, being aware that a memoir of Arminius had 
been drawn up by my father, accused me of nevertheless pro- 
crastinating the publication of it longer than was due. Let 
not these, however, I pray, expect me — in accordance with 
the usual practice in editing memoirs, whether autobiographi- 
cal, or otherwise — to advance any thing in praise either of 
Arminius himself, or of my father.* To dwell on the merits 



* This is an awkward sentence in the original ; and it even presents 
a diversity of reading in different impressions of this same edition ; 
but young Brandt's meaning is nevertheless sufficiently apparent. — Tr. 



PREFATORY NOTE. X5V11 

of the former would not be at all in keeping with my condi- 
tion in life ; while from any such reference to the latter — by 
which I might appear desirous of imposing on others — I am 
restrained by a due veneration for my father's name. 

It concerns me more to notice the circumstance — as fitted 
to enhance the reader's estimate of the utility of this work — 
that there was a memoir by Philip Limborch, the very emi- 
nent Professor of Theology among the Remonstrants, of the 
celebrated Simon Episcopius, originally prefixed to his ser- 
mons, which, for the benefit of foreigners, was well translated 
into Latin by an ardent lover of letters, and, in a form similar 
to that of the present work, published in this city by Gallet 
in the year 1701 ; but, by what fate I know not, copies of 
this edition have become so rare, that it was with some diffi- 
culty that one could be obtained for my inspection. Should the 
rest, however, happen to be liberated from the places of con- 
finement in which they are said to be detained, and that Life 
of Episcopius be subjoined to these memoirs of Arminius, the 
two volumes will be found to embody a record of the rise and 
vicissitudes of the Remonstrants during a period of forty 
years — a record not unworthy of the study either of Dutch- 
men or of Protestants in other lands. 

Besides, it will be evident even from this, that the genius of 
the Christian religion consists in meekness and charity, rather 
than in speculative opinions in matters of faith; and how 
necessary, in controversies that do not peril the foundations of 
our faith, is mutual forbearance, to foreclose many schisms 
into which the Church, alas ! is now cruelly rent ; for, as the 



XXV111 PREFATORY NOTE. 

Emperor Justinian wisely warns, in another case, "It is better 
to leave a cause untouched, than, after it is damaged, to look 
about for a remedy."* 
Amsterdam, 1st May, 1724. 

* L. Ult. C. in quibns caus. in integr. rest, neces. non est. 



THE LIFE 



JAMES AEMINIUS, D.D. 



(29) 



Cicero Lib. tl. De Oratore. 

Quis nescit primani esse historite legem, ne quid falsi dioere audeat, ne quid veri 
non audeat? 

[Who knows not that the first law of history is, that it venture not to state any 
thing that is false, that it venture not to suppress any thing that is true?] 



(30) 



THE LIFE 



JAMES ARMINIUS 



CHAPTER I. 

EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION OF ARMINIUS, TILL THE 
COMMENCEMENT OF HIS MINISTRY IN AMSTERDAM. — 
A. D. 1560 TO A. D. 1588. 

Of all the religious controversies which have 
furnished Divines of recent as well as of ancient 
note with fertile matter of debate, not the least 
prominent, perhaps, is the oft-agitated question 
respecting Divine predestination, and its dependent 
doctrines. On one side, for example, in that dis- 
cussion may be found Augustin and his followers, 
Prosper, Hilary, and Fulgentius; on the other, 
Chrysostom, Ambrose, and other bishops, both of 
the Greek and Latin Church : a fact admitted by 
all who have more attentively studied the writings 
of the ancients. Afterward, also, when the influ- 
ence of Augustin was predominant among the 

(31) 



32 TEE LIFE OF 

Schoolmen, the question as to what was his mean- 
ing, and as to the principle on which his different 
statements were to be reconciled, was long keenly 
debated between the Franciscan and Dominican 
orders. Nay, even in the last century, at the 
very dawn of the uprising truth, there was a 
diversity of opinion on this point among the Pro- 
testant leaders themselves ; one view being held by 
Luther,* Calvin, and Beza, and another by Eras- 
mus, Melancthon, Bullinger, Sarcerius, Latimer, 
and many other leaders of the Reformed faith. 
And more : following these last at no great inter- 
val, George Sohnius, of the University of Heidel- 
berg; Peter Baro, of the University of Cambridge; 
and John Holmann, of the Leyclen University, 
three professors of theology; and in the provinces 
of Friesland, Guelderland, and Holland, Anastasius 
Veluanus, Hubert Duifhusius, (or Dovehouse,) 
Snecanus, and other men of note in these Low 
Countries, differed from others in their views of 
this subject, without injury, however, to ecclesi- 
astical peace or brotherly concord. 



* Melancthon declares that, on this point, Luther's opinion, latterly 
at least, coincided 'with his own: — "Scis me," says he, "quaedani 
minus horride dicere de prsedestinatione, de assensu voluntatis, de 
necessitate obedientiae nostras, de peccato mortali; de his omnibus 
scio re-ipsa Lutherum sentire eadem, sed ineruditi quoedam ejus 
<bopTt,KG)Tepa dicta, cum non yideant quo pertineant, nimium amant." 
Epist, p. 445. Edit. 1647.— Tr. 



JAMES ARHINIUS. 33 

But when a number of pastors, particularly those 
who had prosecuted theological studies at Geneva, 
or in the University of Heidelberg, put forth un- 
remitting and strenuous efforts, in lower Germany, 
to convert their own harsher opinion on the Divine 
decrees into law, and either debar dissentients 
from the sacred office, or, if already in office, to 
expel them, there was no one, in this century at 
least, who resisted the attempt so openly and man- 
fully as James Arminius, doctor and professor of 
theology, of no mean name, in the University of 
Leyden, in Holland, upward of eighty years ago. 
But, as the reputation of this man has been as- 
sailed by many writers, and he himself traduced 
as Holland's unpropitious star, and as the leader 
and author of that disgraceful schism which has, 
in the most grievous manner, convulsed the Re- 
formed Churches in the Low Countries — -just as 
if his object had been to pile up for himself, out 
of their ruins, a stepway to fame — I may be ad- 
mitted, perhaps, to have performed no unworthy 
office to his blessed memory, if, from various and 
most authentic documents, as many as I could lay 
my hands upon, I furnish the public with a faith- 
ful and compendious memoir of his life. 

To commence, then, with his nativity : James 
Hermanns (or Hermanson) was his original name; 
but, after the example of Capnio, Erasmus, Me- 
2* 



34 THE LIFE OP 

lancthon, Sadeel, and other eminent men, who, 
guided by a similarity either of sound or of signi- 
fication, adopted other than their original names, 
he afterward allowed it to be Latinized into 
Aeminius. He was born A. D. 1560, the self-same 
year that terminated the earthly career of a theo- 
logian of highest name — that illustrious ornament 
of the Reformation, Philip Melancthon, of whom 
the Emperor Ferdinand is reported to have de- 
clared, on being apprised of his death, " That man 
was always distinguished for the moderation of his 
counsels."* Even so does the Great Disposer con- 
trol human events ; and as in the firmament, while 
some stars set, others rise, so, in this lower 
sphere, when one renowned for learning and piety 
dies, forthwith another arises and takes his place, 
till at last, from among the crowd of his fellow- 
mortals, he stands out conspicuous as a star, and 
in point of mental endowment and moral excel- 
lence will bear comparison with those who have 
finished their life and their labors. 

The birthplace of Arminius was Oudewater, 
which some call Old Wcders,~\ a small town of 
South Holland, distinguished, not only by the 
loveliness of its circumjacent plains, and by the 
Yssel that flows through it, but also, and in the 

* Bucholceri Clironol. f Its literal meaning. — Tk. 



JAMES AKMINIUS. 35 

highest degree, by a long siege it sustained against 
the Spaniards, which terminated in its overthrow 
and in the barbarous slaughter of its inhabitants. 
In some elegiac verses addressed to a friend at 
Delft, the subject of our memoir thus celebrates, 
in a strain of dearly cherished remembrance, the 
place of his nativity, the home of his fathers : 

Ah fuit in Batavis urbecula fmibus olim, 

Quee nunc Hispani strata furore jacet. 
Huic Undse Veteres posuerunt nonrina prima; 

Hsec mihi nascenti patria terra fuit.* 

From this little city, which, among other emi- 
nently learned men, gave birth also to the great 
mathematician, Rudolph Snellius, sprang Armin- 
ius, of parents respectable indeed, but of moderate 
means. His father was a cutler, of the name of 
Hermann Jacobs, (or Jacobson.) His mother's 
name was Angelica Jacobson : she belonged origin- 
ally to Dort. He lost his father in infancy ; and 
his mother, thus prematurely deprived of her 
partner, was left with the three children she had 
by him, to pass her widowed days in somewhat 
straitened circumstances. There were not want- 

* Ex. MS. Arminii. These verses may be thus represented in 
English : 

In Holland once (ah ! once) there stood a town, 
Now by the Spaniard's rage in ruins thrown ; 
Old Waters named — ne'er be that name forgot ! 
Scene of life's sunny morn — my natal spot! — Tk. 



36 THE LIFE OP 

ing, however, kind friends to the widow, who 
most faithfully acted toward her the part of a 
husband, and made it their study to assist her by 
their counsel and their means. Among others, 
there lived at that time, and in the same place, a 
certain priest of the name of Theodore iEmilius, 
a man of singular erudition, who stood high among 
all his fellow -townsmen for the gravity of his 
manners and the purity of his life. In his early 
years he had been imbued with the popular errors 
and with the superstitions of the Romish Church ; 
but afterward, by Divine illumination, he con- 
ceived a relish for the Reformed doctrine, and at 
last resolved to abandon at once and for ever the 
idolatrous sacrifice of the mass, which he had often 
performed. "Wherefore, to escape the hands of 
persecutors, he removed his abode from place to 
place ; till at last, settling down privately at 
Utrecht, he took the fatherless boy Arminius 
under his truly fatherly protection. Finding him 
apt to learn, and already beaming, at that very 
tender age, with indications of mind, he took care 
to get him initiated, at the school of Utrecht, in 
the elements of both languages, and instilled into 
him the principles of genuine piety.* When, 
moreover, he saw in the boy evident marks of an 
excellent and piously inclined disposition, he set 

* Ex. Bertii Orat. Funeb. 



JAMES ABMINIUS. 37 

himself with special earnestness to stimulate, day 
by day, his budding intellect and piety by the 
most salutary admonitions. Above all, he exhorted 
and urged him again and again, that, putting away 
and spurning from him every earthly considera- 
tion, he should devote himself entirely to God 
and his conscience; that the life which now is 
was of trivial moment, and that it was succeeded 
by a state of existence beyond, which was not to 
be estimated by the distinctive badges of temporal 
bondage or freedom, but by an eternity of weal or 
of woe. These counsels, and many more of the 
same character, emanating as they did from a 
thoroughly sincere and unsophisticated breast, and 
followed up and confirmed by the diligent perusal 
and meditation of the sacred volume, remained 
infixed so deeply and indelibly in his mind, that,' 
inflamed with the hope of that better life and 
never-ending glory which the venerable old man 
often pressed upon his attention, he consecrated 
himself entirely to the pursuit of piety and the 
promotion of the Divine glory. In the course of 
a few years, however, while living in this manner 
at Utrecht, and daily advancing in learning and in 
holiness of life, his faithful patron was suddenly 
snatched from him by the hand of death. 

But the great and ever-blessed God, the never- 
fading Father of the orphan, did not leave the 



38 THE LIFE OF 

youth, now in his fifteenth year, to pine in the 
hopeless grief into which he had been plunged by 
the loss of so beloved a benefactor. Scarcely had 
the good old man departed this life, when that 
profound linguist and most expert mathematician, 
Rudolph Snellius, happened to revisit his own 
country from Hesse -Cassel; having some time 
previously, to escape the tyranny of the Span- 
iards, left his native spot, which was common to 
him with Arminius, and repaired to Marburg. 
Moved with Christian compassion for his young 
fellow-townsman, now deprived of human guar- 
dianship, he forthwith honored him with his 
patronage, and took him with him to Hesse- 
Cassel. 

Arminius had hardly taken up his abode there, 
when, in the month of August in that same year, 
(1575,) his ear was startled by the truly tragic 
intelligence that his native town had been de- 
stroyed; that the place had been taken by the 
Spaniards, its houses pillaged, and almost entirely 
consumed by the devouring flames, its garrison put 
to the sword, its ministers of religion hanged, and 
its inhabitants strangled in a promiscuous mass, 
without any regard to age or sex. This announce- 
ment so agonized his youthful spirit that for a 
whole fortnight he gave way to incessant weeping 
and wailing. Yea, so irrepressible was his anguish 



JAMES AEMINITTS. 39 

at so fell a catastrophe, that he quitted Hesse- 
Cassel, and hurried to Holland — resolved to visit 
the ruins of his native city, or die in the attempt. 
When he reached the place, the scene presented 
the appearance of a heap, rather than of a town — 
his eye rinding nothing to rest on but piles of 
rubbish, and the remains of most of the citizens, 
yea, and of his dearest mother, and sister, and 
brother, and other relations, all cruelly slain. He 
accordingly returned to Marburg, the journey from 
his native place to Hesse-Cassel being accom- 
plished on foot.* 

Meanwhile, under the auspices of the illustrious 
Prince of Orange, William the First, a new uni- 
versity had been erected in Holland .f On being 
apprised of this, he returned to his native land, 
and repaired to Rotterdam, where the sad relics 

* Ex. Bertii Orat. Funeb. 

•j- The celebrated University of Leyden. In memory of the event- 
ful siege of that city by the Spaniards, and to reward the citizens for 
their heroic and triumphant defence, the Prince and States offered 
them their choice of a university or a fair. To the honor of the 
citizens, they chose the university ; and to the honor of the Prince 
and States, they gave them both ; and both sustained and enhanced 
the city's well-earned renown. The university, above all, has made 
Leyden an imperishable name. It received its charter from the 
Prince of Orange on the 8th February, 1575. "Van der Duys, the 
devoted and heroic defender of his native town, first sat as curator in 
that chair which himself had raised on the standards of victory, 
and the muse twined her bays with the laurels that crowned his 
brow." — Davies's Hist, of Holland, vol. ii. p., 15. London, 1851. — Te. 



40 THELIFEOP 

of his fellow-townsmen, and some others who had 
fled from Amsterdam on account of the Reformed 
religion, had taken shelter. Peter Bertins, Sen., 
was then pastor of that church ; and in the same 
city resided a man of eminent learning and piety, 
John Taffin, Walloon minister to the Prince, and 
one of his councillors. Arminius immediately 
insinuated himself into their friendship — so much 
so, that Bertius cheerfully received him into his 
own house. By and by, however, at the instance 
and with the sanction of certain friends, he was 
removed to the new university at Leyden, along 
with Peter Bertius, Jun., whom his father, on this 
occasion, had recalled from England. Preeminent 
among the other masters of varied erudition, Lam- 
bert Danseus then added lustre to the new seat 
of learning — a distinguished man, so versed at 
once in philosophical and theological studies, and 
also in the Fathers and in scholastic divinity, as 
to have scarcely an equal in these departments.* 
Hence that illustrious ornament of literature and 
of the Leyden University, John Dousa, the elder, 
in an iambic poem composed in honor of Danreus, 
designates him the father of the sciences and of 
eloquence, and the master-builder of the netv seat of 
learning.^ 

* Meursii Atlien. Batavas. 

f Vid. Dousre poem, a Scriverio edita, p. 274. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 41 

Favored with so able a director of his studies, 
Arminius soon made such proficiency that he far 
outstripped his fellow-students, to whom he was 
held up by his distinguished preceptor in terms 
of public commendation as a rare example of 
industry and virtue. When any thing was to be 
written, or spoken, or any doubt to be resolved, 
Arminius was sure to be consulted. There was 
scarcely a field of study or department of the 
arts which he did not bound over with eager and 
joyous impulse. In order to acquire the Hebrew 
tongue, he availed himself of the instructions of 
Hermann Rennecher, a Westphalian, who was well 
versed in that language. With his main study, 
theology, at which he toiled night and day, he 
conjoined philosophy; and penetrated to the in- 
most recesses of both. 

Of all philosophers, by the way, the celebrated 
Peter E-amus, formerly professor in the University 
of Paris, pleased him best.* So thoroughly did 
he imbibe his system of philosophizing, and 
method of reasoning, that he might have passed for 
another Ramus. My impression, however, is, that 
Arminius acquired the elements of this philosophy 
under his teacher and guardian, Rudolph Snellius, 
of whom the distinguished Meursius remarks, that 
"at Marburg he first laid his hands on the logic 

* Ramus was also a favorite with John Milton. — Tr. 






42 THE LIFE OF 

of Ramus, and was so enraptured with it, that 
from that day forward he shook himself clear of 
all the shackles of the Aristotelian philosophy, to 
the acquisition of which he had formerly devoted 
three whole years in the colleges at Cologne." 

Under the care of this same Snellius, who, at 
the close of the year 1578, was called by the 
Curators of the Leyden University to give instruc- 
tion in mathematics, he applied himself also to 
mathematics and astronomy, and made no small 
progress in these studies. Nor was he proof 
against the allurements of poetry ; but at this, as 
well as at subsequent periods of his life, he occa- 
sionally betook himself to that sweet charmer of 
the human soul, to soothe his breast when bur- 
dened by a load of care. This is proved by a 
variety of epigrams and poems of every descrip- 
tion, that bear the evident impress of a sprightly 
and most elegant mind, many of which, in the 
author's own handwriting, are preserved hy us to 
this day among our most precious relics. Of all 
his companions — it may be added — who then plied 
their literary studies along with him at the same 
university, and of whose friendship and close inti- 
macy he daily availed himself, the most eminent 
were these young men of transcendent ability, 
John Grater, Rombout Hoogerbeets, and George 
Benedicti of Haarlem, whose epigrams, and other 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 43 

highly finished poetical remains, were afterward 
published by the very learned P. Scriverius. 

When, with these fellow-students, he had now 
attended the Leyden University for the space of 
six years, and given satisfactory proof that he 
was destined to be an eminent man and useful 
teacher in the Church, he was at length recom- 
mended, in hope of the Church, by the Honorable 
the Senators of the Amsterdam Republic, and 
by the ministers of the gospel, to the heads of 
the merchants' guild,* who responded so heartily 
to the call, that, to enable him to complete a 
thorough course of academical study, they took 
the youth under their patronage, and cheerfully 
engaged, with this pious object in view, to defray 
the expense thereby incurred out of the annual 
proceeds of their fraternity. On his part, Armin- 
ius, in an autograph document retained by the 
senators, of elate 13th September, 1581, bound 
himself to be in perpetuity at the service of 
that city ; and pledged his faith that in the event 
of his being invested with the sacred office, he 
would give his energies to no church in any other 
city without the previous consent of those who 
should constitute the senate of that great city for 
the time being. 

* Tribunis Institorum ; to which the author subjoins, in a foot-note, 
by -way of explanation : De Hooftluiden van het Kraemers Gildt. — Tr. 



44 THE LIFE OP 

Backed by such kind patrons, he rushed with 
accelerated speed toward the completion of his 
studies. That he might accomplish this with 
the more advantage, and yet further enrich his 
resources, the Senate of Amsterdam deemed it 
advisable that he should be sent to some of the 
foreign universities. Accordingly, by their author- 
ity and decree, in the year 1582, he set out for 
Geneva, a city which was then considered to be 
the stronghold of the Reformed faith, and the 
prolific birthplace as well as arena of the most 
illustrious minds. Of all who then took the lead 
in this city, in its Academy and in the public 
ordinances of religion, the great master-spirit was 
that venerable old man, Theodore Beza. Hence 
nothing appeared to Arminius of greater conse- 
quence, while at Geneva, than to conciliate toward 
himself Beza's interest and affection, inasmuch as 
he hoped, by means of his conversations and 
intercourse, to become not only a more erudite 
and polished, but also a better and a wiser man. 
For, with the utmost gravity of manners, this 
theologian excelled his compeers in persuasive- 
ness of address, and in promptitude and perspi- 
cuity of utterance ; while his learning and attain- 
ments in sacred literature were profound and 
extraordinary. With ears intent Arminius drank 
in his words ; with eager assiduity he hung upon 



JAMES AEMINIUS. 45 

his lips ; and with intense admiration he listened 
to his exposition of the ninth chapter of Paul's 
Epistle to the Romans. His attention to Beza, 
however, was not exclusive ; for he was often 
present also at the prelections and discourses of 
Anthony Faye, Charles Perrot, and other teachers 
of that church and university. 

Here, at Geneva, were laid the foundations of 
that most intimate and uninterrupted friendship 
which ever after subsisted between him and John 
Uitenbogaert, a native of Utrecht, who prosecuted 
his studies in theology at the same time, and 
under the same preceptors.* In the course of 
that period, too, it happened that the sons of the 
principal families of rank in the Dutch Republic, 
and young men of noble birth, had flocked to 
Geneva, to prosecute their studies, of whose fami- 
liar intercourse and many kind offices Arminius 
daily availed himself. Eminent among these were 
Nicolas Cromhout, Abraham Bysius, Peter Bre- 
derode, John Crucius, Adrian Tiong of Dort, 
afterward called Junius, and others, whom, at 
subsequent periods, he saw elevated to the highest 
honors of state in his native land.f 

But Arminius, having rather keenly, and with 
too great ardor, defended publicly, as well as pri- 

* Ex vitse Uitenbog. prolegonienis, ling, vernac. conscript, 
f Ex Arminii MS. Libello. 



46 THELIFEOP 

vately, the philosophy of Ramus, which he had 
formerly embraced, and impugned that of Aristo- 
tle; nay, further, having allowed himself to be 
prevailed upon, by the request and earnest en- 
treaties of many of the students, (of whom Uiten- 
bogaert was one,) to teach the logic of Ramus 
privately, and in his own study, he soon succeeded, 
by that step, in arraying against himself the fierce 
jealousy of some of the rectors of the academy 
at Geneva. Of these, no one resented the attempt 
so keenly as the professor of philosophy in that 
academy — a Spaniard by nation, and, moreover, a 
most strenuous defender of Aristotle. By his 
influence, ere long, Arminius was publicly, and by 
name, interdicted the liberty of teaching the Ra- 
niean philosophy. Disconcerted by this affair, he 
resolved to yield somewhat to the exigency, and 
abandon Geneva for a time.* 

He removed to Basle, where he was held in the 
highest estimation for his talents and learning. 
A favorable opportunity here presented itself for 
establishing his reputation. The custom had pre- 
vailed in that university of permitting the more 
advanced theological students, during the harvest 
holidays, to give, apart from the stated course, 
and with the view of exercising their gifts, occa- 
sional lectures in public. This province Arminius 

* Bert. Orat. Funeb. — Uitenb. Hist. Eccles. Vernacule Script. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 47 

very willingly undertook, and expounded a few 
chapters of Paul's Epistle to the Romans. With 
such ability did he act his part, and with such 
applause from all the learned, that the celebrated 
James Grynseus, professor of sacred literature in 
that university, occasionally graced his lecture 
with his presence, and listened to him with the 
utmost delight. This distinguished man, more- 
over, when any grave question was started in 
their public discussions, or any knotty point pre- 
sented itself, would single out Arminius from 
among the assembled students, and, without any 
fear that his honor was at stake, appeal to him in 
these words : " Let my Hollander answer for me."* 
Yea, to such an extent, at this place, did he gain 
the esteem of the learned and the fame of solid 
acquirements, that, when he was meditating a 
return to Geneva, the Theological Faculty spon- 
taneously, and at the public expense, proffered 
him the title of doctor, which, however, with the 
utmost modesty, and with every expression of gra- 
titude, Arminius at that time declined, as an honor 
which he was yet too young to wear. 

On his return to Geneva in 1583, he found that 
the most of those whom he had shortly before 
exasperated by his defence of the philosophical 
tenets of Ramus, had abated much of their rigor. 

* Ex. Bert. Orat. Funeb. 



48 THE LIFE OF 

Wherefore, deeming it fair that he, on his part, 
should somewhat abate his impetuosity, and give 
no further offence to his friends in this way, he so 
conducted himself henceforth that every one saw 
and admired the combination he exhibited of an 
acute and vivacious intellect with the utmost 
moderation of spirit. So marked was this, that 
Beza himself, on being asked by the learned Mar- 
tin Lydius, minister of the gospel at Amsterdam, 
in the name of the leading men both of the city 
and the church, to give his opinion of their 
scholar* and of his studies, replied, in a letter to 
Lydius, dated June 3, 1583, and embodying the 
mind of the entire theological faculty, in the fol- 
lowing terms : 

"Your letter reached us some time since, in 
which, in terms of the decision of your assembly, 
as well as by the desire of your illustrious magis- 
tracy, you ask our opinion of James Arminius, 
your scholar. To that letter we shortly after 
replied ; but as it is possible, in these critical 
times, that our reply may not have reached you, 
we deem it expedient to embrace the opportunity 
that has just presented itself of a confidential 
bearer, to repeat our ansAver in brief, lest by any 
such contingency the studies of Arminius should 
be injuriously affected. To sum up all, then, in a 

* Alumnus, or in Dutch Voedsterling — literally, foster-child. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 49 

few words : be it known to you, that from the 
time Arminius returned to us from Basle, his life 
and learning both have so approved themselves to 
us, that we hope the best of him in every respect, 
if he steadily persist in the same course, which, 
by the blessing of God, we doubt not he will ; for, 
among other endowments, God has gifted him with 
an apt intellect both as respects the apprehension 
and the discrimination of things. If this hence- 
forward be regulated by piety, which he appears 
assiduously to cultivate, it cannot but happen that 
this power of intellect, when consolidated by 
mature age and experience, will be productive of 
the richest fruits. Such is our opinion of Armini- 
us — a young man, unquestionably, so far as we 
are able to judge, most worthy of your kindness 
and liberality."* 

Three months after, a similar opinion respecting 
Arminius was expressed by the University of 
Basle, in whose name the celebrated Grynseus 
drew out the following testimonial : 

"To pious readers*, greeting : 

" Inasmuch as a faithful testimonial of learning 
and piety ought not to be refused to any learned 
and pious man, so neither to James Arminius, a 

* Vide Epist. Eccles. Amstel. 1684 editas ; pag. 26, Ed. sii. 
3 



50 THELIFEOF 

native of Amsterdam ;* for his deportment while 
he attended the University of Basle was marked 
by piety, moderation, and assiduity in study ; and 
very often, in the course of our theological dis- 
cussions, he made his gift of a discerning spirit so 
manifest to all of us, as to elicit from us well- 
merited congratulations. More recently, too, in 
certain extraordinary prelections delivered with the 
consent and by the order of the Theological Fac- 
ulty, in which he publicly expounded a few chap- 
ters of the Epistle to the Romans, he gave us the 
best ground to hope that he was destined ere long 
— if, indeed, he goes on to stir up the gift of God 
that is in him — to undertake and sustain the func- 
tion of teaching, to which he may be lawfully set 
apart, with much fruit to the Church. I commend 
him, accordingly, to all good men, and, in particu- 
lar, to the church of God in the famous city of 
Amsterdam ; and I respectfully entreat that regard 
may be had to that learned and pious youth, so 
that he may never be under the necessity of inter- 
mitting theological studies which have been thus 
far so happily prosecuted. Farewell ! 

"John James Gryn^eus, 

" Professor of Sacred Literature, and Dean of the Theological Faculty. 
— Written with mine own hand.f 
"Basle, 3d September, 1583." 

* In this Grynseus was mistaken, for Arminius was a native of 
Oudewater. f Ex ipso Gryntei Autographo. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 51 

Graced and animated by these testimonials, he 
diligently applied himself at Geneva, for three 
years more, to augment his attainments in theology 
and sacred literature. Moreover, as every nation 
has something in which it boasts a superiority 
over others, and as James Zabarella, a professor 
of philosophy at Padua, had at this time acquired 
great celebrity in that department ; for this reason 
chiefly, Arminius, in the year 1586, made arrange- 
ments for taking a journey to Italy. This, how- 
ever, he undertook not so much at his own sug- 
gestion, as at the instance of that noble youth, 
Adrian Junius, who was prosecuting legal studies, 
and who, when at a subsequent period he took his 
place among the senators of the Provincial Court, 
ceased not to regard Arminius with peculiar affec- 
tion and esteem. Bent on making the tour of 
Italy, and on the look-out for a fit companion, he 
succeeded at last, by dint of entreaties and by 
consummate address, in alluring Arminius into the 
project, on this condition, that both should use 
the same lodgings, the same table, and the same 
bed ; and that in no case, when they sallied forth, 
should either quit the side of the other.* On this 
agreement, entered into at Geneva, they set out 
on their journey under favorable circumstances, 
taking along with them a Hebrew psalter and a 

* Vid. Bert. Orat. Funeb.— Uitenb. Hist. Eccles. 



52 THE LIFE OP 

Greek copy of the New Testament, for the use 
of both in the way of cultivating personal piety. 
Spending some time in Padua, Arminius listened 
to Zabarella with the utmost delight, and also 
found occasion to give instruction in logic to some 
Germans there, of noble birth. From that he 
visited the principal cities of Italy, and the queen 
of them all, the city of Rome — the throne of the 
Papal superstition and despotism. Wherever they 
went, Arminius clung to his Achates, and never 
spoke to any one except in his presence. Of this 
journey, indeed, he was wont to remark, as no 
trivial advantage, that " at Rome he had seen the 
mystery of iniquity in a form far more hideous 
than he had ever imagined ; and that all he had 
ever heard or read elsewhere of the court of Anti- 
christ at Rome, appeared trifles when compared 
with what he saw with his own eyes."* The 
whole of this journey to Italy was accomplished, 
not in twenty-one months, as some recklessly 
allege, but in the space only of seven months ; 
after which he retraced his steps to Geneva. 

But although he had been an eye-witness of 
the meretricious worship of that Papal Church, 
he had kept himself perfectly clear of all taint 
of its superstition; still he could not escape the 
charge, by very grave men, of incaution and pre- 

* Ex. Bertii Or at. Funeb. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 53 

cipitation in undertaking such a journey. What 
was more, he drew down upon himself, in conse- 
quence of that step, the displeasure, to some 
extent, of his patrons, and of the honorable Sen- 
ate of Amsterdam, on the ground that he had 
undertaken the journey without consulting them. 
And, as envy is the usual concomitant of shining 
virtues and talents, there were not wanting indi- 
viduals at this time who made a handle of the 
circumstance to indulge the vilest suspicions, and, 
by judgments the most manifestly reckless, to 
blight the opening buds of the youth's reputation. 
For advantage was taken of the fact, first secretly 
to insinuate, and then openly to proclaim far and 
wide, that he had kissed the Pope's shoe, become 
acquainted with the Jesuits, and cherished a familiar 
intimacy with Cardinal Bellarmine ; the simple truth 
being, that he had never beheld the Pope save in a 
dense crowd, in common with the other spectators, 
while Bellarmine he had never so much as seen. 

Accordingly, having returned to Geneva, and 
passed a few months more in that place, he was 
recalled home by his patrons, and, in the autumn 
of 1587, set out for Amsterdam, adorned with a 
very splendid testimonial from his preceptors at 
Geneva, in which they declare, " that his mind was 
in the highest degree qualified for the discharge 
of duty, should it please God at any time to use 



54 THELIFEOP 

his ministry for the promotion of his own work in 
the Church."* Directly on entering that city, he 
felt it incumbent on him, first of all, to clear 
himself of the aspersions of weaker brethren, in 
reference to the journey above-mentioned, to the 
satisfaction of those grave and influential men 
whose authority was predominant in Church 
and State. Having obtained an interview with 
these, he very easily explained the fact ; while the 
superadded testimony of Adrian Junius, formerly 
noticed, who had been his constant and insepara- 
ble companion in that journey, put an effectual 
curb on the reckless jaws of his calumniators. 
Nor less did Arminius feel it to be his incumbent 
duty, now that he had returned to Amsterdam, 
to make his appearance before the ecclesiastical 
court,-)- which he did on the 12th of November. 
He was very graciously received, and forthwith 
presented his testimonials from the venerable Beza 
and others ; adding, that, actuated by an ardent 

* These are the words of Beza. Vid. Bert. Orat. Funeb. — Te. 

f This, we presume, was the Amsterdam Classis, for it was by the 
classical courts that candidates for the ministry were wont to be 
examined. These Classes, being originally composed of every minis- 
ter and elder within the particular bounds, corresponded, as nearly 
as possible, to our Scottish presbyteries. See Steven's Brief View of 
the Dutch Eccl. Estab., p. 9. It is evidently this same classical court, 
or presbytery, that is so often referred to in the subsequent pages, 
and which Brandt variously designates by the names Senatus Ecclesias- 
ticus, Presbyterium, Synedrium, etc. — Tb. 



JAMES AEMINIUS. 55 

desire to edify the Church of God, he would 
gladly devote to this object the gifts divinely 
intrusted to hiui, if at any time he should be 
duly invested with the sacred office.* After 
entering into explanations respecting his journey 
to Italy, he next made the request, that before 
applying himself to discourses,-)* with the view of 
rightly moulding his voice and style of speaking, 
(of which he was extremely diffident,) he might 
be allowed, with the consent of the honorable 
Senate, to go to South Holland, partly to see cer- 
tain friends and relatives, and partly to transact 
some private business. He obtained permission, 
the senators even granting him his travelling 
expenses; and accomplished the projected journey 
in a brief period of time. 

On his return, he devoted a few weeks, by way 
of practice, to the delivery of private addresses; 
and, about the commencement of the year following, 
(1588,) he presented himself for examination before 
the Classis of Amsterdam. This having taken place, 
and his faith having been tested on the several 
heads of Christian doctrine, and the testimonies of 
some eminent divines respecting him having further 
been read, he was unanimously judged worthy 
to undertake ministerial functions. Thereafter, on 

* Ex actis presbyterii Amstelod. f Commonly called Propositions. 



56 THE LIFE OP 

the 4th February, with the consent of the honorable 
senators, (the matter having previously been sub- 
mitted to the ecclesiastical court,) he began to be 
heard from the pulpit of the church in Amsterdam, 
and officiated every week at the evening service, 
delivering a discourse, and conducting the prayers.* 
He did so with such applause — his style of speak- 
ing being marked by a certain sweet and native 
grace, tempered with gravity — that, in the course 
of a few months, (on the 21st July,) the consis- 
tory-)* of that city — all the deacons being assem- 
bled along with them — resolved, by their common 
vote, and without a dissentient voice, that he 
should be offered the sacred ministry of the 
church in Amsterdam, and that the consent of the 
honorable senators should be asked for that pur- 
pose. This was obtained, on the 28th of July; 
and the invitation by the entire consistory of the 
church having been tendered to Arminius on the 
11th of August, after due proclamation had been 



* Ex actis presbyt. Amstelod. 

f The consistory (for such, in this instance, must be the court 
designated by the name presbyterium) corresponds to our kirk-session. 
It is "composed of the minister or ministers in actual service, and 
the elders and deacons of each congregation. In small communities, 
deacons have a voice in all the business of the kirk-session, but in 
large consistories they have a separate chamber where are discussed 
all matters relating to the poor. In towns the whole session, includ- 
ing ministers, elders, and deacons, combine in calling a clergyman." 
Steven's Brief View of Dutch Eccl. Estab., p. 3. — Tn. 



JAMES AEMINIUS. 57 

made, and after pledging his faith that he would, 
according to the example of his colleagues, fulfil 
his sacred duties with fidelity and zeal, on a cer- 
tain Saturday, which happened to be the day 
before the celebration of the Lord's Supper, he 
was, in solemn form, by the laying on of hands, 
invested with the sacred office. 

He entered upon his public duties in the twenty- 
eighth year of his age; and already, at this 
youthful period, acted the part of a consummate 
preacher, and not only fulfilled, but far exceeded 
the expectations of his patrons. His discourses 
were masculine and erudite : every thing he 
uttered breathed the theologian — not raw and 
commonplace, but superior, acute, cultivated, and 
replete with solid acquisitions both in human and 
in sacred literature. This made him such a favo- 
rite both with high and low, that in a short time 
he attracted toward himself the ears and the 
hearts of all classes alike. In the general admi- 
ration of his talents, some styled him "a file of 
truth;" others, "a whetstone of intellect ;" others, 
"a pruning-knife for rank-growing errors;" and, 
indeed, on the subject of religion and sacred study, 
it seemed as if scarcely any thing was known 
which Arminius did not know* 

* Ex. Bertii Orat. Funeb. 



58 THE LIFE OP 

In order to circumscribe himself in his public 
discourses within certain limits, he adopted the 
plan of expounding continuously, and in alternate 
order, the prophetic book of Malachi and the 
Epistle of Paul to the Romans. He commenced 
the exposition of this Epistle on Lord's day the 
6th of November. In treating the argument 
it contains, he reckoned nothing more important 
than to bring clearly out the primary scope of the 
apostle, namely, to establish the doctrine of the 
justification of both Jew and Gentile by the faith 
of the gospel; and to exhibit to the church, 
plainly and distinctly, the necessity of faith and 
of gospel grace, as well as the inefficacy of legal 
works.* To this task he addressed himself with 
all his might, by which he increased to the utmost 
his reputation for consummate learning, and gained 
the favor and good-will of all who attended his 
lectures, not excepting even those who differed 
from him in sentiment. But having, first of all, 
sworn eternal fealty to truth, and all along cher- 
ished an ardent love to it, he set before him as his 
chief aim, now that he was just commencing his 
ministry, to lay aside all prejudice, surrender 
himself entirely to truth, and in no case speak or 
act contrary to the dictates of a pure conscience. 

* Ex Annotates MSS. J. Armin. 



JAMES ARHINIUS. 59 

Great, moreover, as was the veneration with which 
he regarded those under whose banner and pro- 
tection he had devoted himself to sacred study, 
he would by no means consent to take their opin- 
ions for law, but was determined to follow the 
direction of Christ alone, the supreme teacher and 
guide. This, as early as the year following, 
(1589,) events began to make manifest. 



60 THELIFEOP 



CHAPTER II. 

TRANSITION-STAGE OF ARMLNIUS'S MIND ON THE SUBJECT OP 
PREDESTINATION, WITH THE CIRCUMSTANCES IN WHICH 
IT ORIGINATED, AND THE TROUBLES TO WHICH IT LED. 
—A. D. 1589-1592. 

Famous at that time was the name of Richard 
Coornhert, a citizen of Amsterdam, whom Adrian 
Junius of Hoorn, in his description of Holland, 
designates "a man of divine ..intellect." This 
individual, notwithstanding that he had strenuously 
contended for liberty of country and of conscience 
and bravely withstood the tyranny of the Romish 
Church, was yet of opinion that the Church which 
gloried in the name Reformed was not so purged 
but that it still labored under a variety of errors, 
opposed at once to Christian truth and piety. 
Of these, the one he could least tolerate was the 
dogma, taught by most ministers of this Church, 
of an absolute decree of Divine election and repro- 
bation, as had been maintained at large by the 
very celebrated divines of the Geneva school. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 61 

This opinion he began to assail both with tongue 
and pen; and soon furnished the pastors in the 
Low Countries that held it with a superabundance 
of work. Nay, ten years had now elapsed since 
a very smart disputation on this and other points, 
presided over by certain members of the honor- 
able the States-General, had taken place between 
him and Arnold Cornells and Reyner Dontekluk, 
ministers at Delft.* He was, in consequence, 
taxed and held chargeable with heresy, libertin- 
ism, and many more such crimes ; and stood as a 
common mark of assault to all who wished to 
preserve inviolate the name and reputation of the 
Reformed Church. The Ecclesiastical Court of 
Amsterdam accordingly, unwilling in this matter 
to fall behind others in zeal, resolved that their 
own Arminius be earnestly requested to undertake 
the task of resisting that man's attempts, and 
devote his energies to the confutation of his trea- 
tises .f This request Arminius at that time failed 
to fulfil, not so much from a reluctant mind, as 
from the following incident that occurred in the 
same conjuncture of affairs. 

These two ministers of Delft, who had publicly 
disputed with Coornhert, the better to shield their 

* Vid. Parentis mei f. m. Ger. Brantii Hist. Reformationis Bel- 
gicas, populari Idiom. Scriptam. torn, i., p. 597. 
-j- Ex actis Presbyt. Amstel. 



62 THE LIFE OP 

opinion of an absolute decree against the main objec- 
tion of their antagonist, with which he was always 
plying them, (namely, that the necessity of sin- 
ning, no less than of perishing, being fixed by the 
more than iron absolutism of that decree, they 
thereby actually made the ever-blessed God the 
author of all sin,) came to the conclusion that 
they must of necessity deviate a little from the 
footsteps of the Genevan divines, and adopt some 
other expedient to rid themselves of the difficulty. 
For while they agreed with the Genevans in this, 
that Divine predestination was the antecedent, 
absolute, and inevitable decree of God concerning 
the salvation or damnation of every individual of 
the human race, without any respect to obedience 
or disobedience, they nevertheless dissented from 
them in the following particular : While the illus- 
trious Beza and others had made the object in the 
view of God predestinating to be man not yet 
considered as fallen, yea, not even as created,^ 
these Delft divines, on the other hand, made this 
peremptory decree, in the order of nature, to be 
posterior to the creation and the fall of man. In 
order to submit this opinion to the judgment of 
the most learned, these brethren of Delft had 
drawn up a little work under the title of "An 
Answer to certain Arguments of Beza and Calvin, 
from a Treatise on Predestination as taught in the 



JAMES ARM INIUS. 63 

Ninth Chapter of Romans."* This work, present- 
ing a variety of difficulties under which the more 
rigid opinion of the Genevans seemed to labor, 
had been transmitted by them to the Reverend 
Martin Lydius, who, from the celebrity he had 
acquired for solid erudition, had been called, in 
the year 1585, by the honorable rulers of Fries- 
land, to the professorship of divinity in their new 
academy. But he, though by no means indisposed 
to reply to the authors of that book, (he had even 
pledged his faith that he would,) nevertheless pre- 
ferred turning to Arminius, whom he urged by 
letter to undertake this task and the defence of 
Beza, and thus pave the way to the refutation of 
Coornhert. 

To this proposal Arminius, in the first instance, 
did not greatly object, yea, and addressed himself 
to the task with the more alacrity that he cher- 
ished such veneration for his reverend and aged 
preceptor, of whose lectures and arguments, to 
which he had recently listened, he retained a deep 
and lively recollection. But when he entered on 
this field, and, with the view of defending his own 
opinion, had accurately balanced the arguments on 
both sides, and brought them to the test of the 
ancient truth, he found in either view of an abso- 

* Ex Bert. Orat. Funeb. Vide etiam libellum R. Donteklokii ver- 
nacule Script, anno 1609. 



64 THELIFEOF 

lute decree of predestination such inextricable 
difficulties, that what to choose and what to refuse 
came to be matter of perplexing doubt. Indeed, 
the longer he revolved the point, and weighed the 
reasons which had been urged against the view of 
Calvin and Beza, the more difficult did he find it 
to meet them with a solid reply ; and thus he felt 
himself bearing rapidly over to that very opinion 
which, at first sight, he had undertaken to impugn. 
Wherefore, accustomed as he was to surrender 
himself to the dictates of a good conscience, that he 
might not overstep his duty as a lawful student of 
Divine truth, or rashly precipitate himself against 
this or that opinion on the point referred to, he 
determined, first of all, abruptly to cut short the 
thread of the refutation he had begun, and devote 
every fragment of time he could redeem from his 
stated engagements and public ministrations to the 
more thorough investigation of this doctrine, "and 
to the perusal, in connection with the sacred vol- 
ume, of the works written on the subject by the 
ancient as well as more recent divines. 

But to proceed with our narrative. That he 
might feel the more encouraged to prosecute with 
alacrity and respectability his earthly career and 
the public duties assigned him, he took thought, 
in the thirtieth year of his age, of entering into 
the marriage relation; and on the 16th of Sep- 



JAMES AR JUNIUS. 65 

tember, 1590, he took to wife Elizabeth Real, the 
nuptials being celebrated in due form in the Old 
Church, (as it was commonly called.) and the cere- 
mony performed by his colleague, the Rev. John 
Ambrosius. This Elizabeth was a woman of 
elegant manners and of a great mind; being the 
daughter of a man of the utmost weight and tried 
excellence, Lawrence Real, a judge and senator in 
Amsterdam. How well this man deserved of his 
native city and of the Reformed religion, and 
how prodigious the toils he encountered in its 
defence during the very perilous period of Spanish 
tyranny, eminent writers of that age abundantly 
testify. Having happily secured as his partner in 
life the daughter of such a man, endowed and 
adorned with hereditary virtues, most exemplary 
manners, and the love of unaffected piety from her 
earliest years, — for she had herself accompanied 
her father into exile for the sake of religion, — 
Arminius forthwith applied himself, heart and 
soul, to discharge with alacrity the duties of his 
sphere. 

But although he put himself most wisely and 
rigidly on his guard against openly impugning the 
generally received tenets concerning Divine pre- 
destination, and kept to himself, for the sake of 
peace, many truths on which the rest differed from 
him in opinion, he by no means held himself so 



66 THE LIFE OP 

bound to the prevailing opinions of others as to 
preclude him, when engaged in the exposition of 
this or that passage, from occasionally and mo- 
destly expressing his dissent. Above all, he 
made it his endeavor to eradicate from the minds 
of his hearers certain popular errors in the highest 
degree hostile to Christian piety; and to vindi- 
cate, against the vicious and distorted interpreta- 
tions of some, several passages of holy writ 
on which, not unfrequently, as on an axiomatic 
basis, were reared carnal views at variance with 
genuine Christianity. For this purpose a fit 
opportunity, as it appeared to him, presented 
itself in the year 1591, when, after having been 
some time engaged in the public exposition of 
Paul's Epistle to the Romans, he reached the 14th 
verse of the seventh chapter : " For we know that 
the law is spiritual ; but I am carnal, sold under 
sin." His opinion was, that to interpret this pas- 
sage as many do, of the man as truly and tho- 
roughly born again, through gospel grace, was to 
do the utmost to invalidate the efficacy of Chris- 
tian regeneration and the cultivation of genuine 
piety; inasmuch as the entire exercise of Divine 
worship, all evangelical obedience, and that new 
creation which the inspired writers so often and so 
earnestly inculcate, were thereby shrunk within 
such narrow limits as to consist not in the effect, 



JAMES AEMINIUS. 67 

but simply in the wish. Wherefore, after accu- 
rately weighing in his own mind the train of 
thought in that chapter, and calling to his aid the 
commentaries of Bucer and others upon it, he 
publicly taught and maintained, " that St. Paul in 
this place does not speak of himself as what he 
then was, nor yet of a man living under the influ- 
ence of gospel grace, but personates a man lying 
under the law, on whom the Mosaic law had per- 
formed its functions ; and who, in consequence, 
being by the aid of the Spirit contrite on account 
of sin, and convinced of the impotence of the law 
as a means of obtaining saltation, was in quest of 
a deliverer, and was, not regenerated indeed, but 
in the stage next to regeneration." 

This exposition of the passage — which was 
simply submitted, without discussing the contrary 
opinion — procured him much ill-will, and but little 
favor with the most of his ministerial brethren. 
Some took occasion from it to fasten on him 
the crime of Pelagianism, on the ground that he 
ascribed too much goodness to an unregenerate 
man. Others daubed his opinion with the mark 
of heresy, for no other reason than that Faustus 
Socinus, under the name of Prosper Dysidseus, 
had expounded this chapter of Paul in much the 
same way. With most the cry was, that he had 
uttered many things from the pulpit opposed to 



68 THE LIFE OF 

the Confession of the Belgic churches and the 
Palatine Catechism; and, further, that he had 
appealed without just warrant, in defence of his 
opinion, to the divines of the ancient Church, and 
even to some of a more recent age. 

Shortly after, the matter was brought before 
the Classical Court, who decreed to summon Ar- 
minius to their bar, and hold an interview with 
him, with the view of convincing him of his error 
and of his perverse doctrine, or of making him 
give a more satisfactory explanation of his opin- 
ion. On being apprised of this decision, Arminius 
signified that he would enter most cheerfully into 
such a conference, but on this condition, that it 
take place in the presence of the rulers of the 
city, or their delegates ; or, if this should not be 
deemed advisable, that he be allowed to meet only 
with his brethren in the ministry, the elders of 
the church being absent. The latter alternative 
being adopted, after previous prayer to Gocl, a 
discussion was held between him and Peter Plan- 
cius. Plancius urged many things against Armin- 
ius, which Arminius proved either that he had 
never uttered from the pulpit, or that he had done 
so with a clearly different aim, and in a different 
sense.* To the charge of Pelagianism, he replied, 

* Ex sckedulis MS. Arminii. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 69 

with some warmth, that he utterly repudiated 
those errors which were commonly ascribed to 
Pelagians ; and contended that by no legitimate 
process could they be elicited from his exposition 
in question, but, on the contrary, were manifestly 
repugnant to it. With respect to the authorities 
he had cited in the pulpit, he owned he had said 
that very many of the ancient divines, both of the 
Greek and Latin Church, had adopted his exposi- 
tion, which he could establish by proofs not a 
few: as for the rest, he was not aware that he 
had adduced in support of his opinion any of 
the recent divines of the Church except Bucer, 
although he did not use the same phraseology; 
but that Desiderius Erasmus was inclined to the 
same opinion — a name by no means to be despised 
by any of the Reformed. Here Plancius began to 
detract greatly from the authority and to weaken 
the credit of the ancient Fathers of the Church. 
This Arminius resented, and declared that neither 
Plancius himself, nor any divine of the modern 
Church, had a right to think or speak so disparag- 
ingly of men whose names were held sacred, and 
who so acted in their day as to entitle themselves 
to be held in honor by the entire Christian com- 
munity. The Confession and Catechism being 
next referred to, he showed at much length that 
he had taught nothing whatever contrary to these 



70 THE LIFE OF 

formularies of mutual consent, and that his doctrine 
on the point in question could be most easily re- 
conciled with them. He added that he was in no 
respect bound to every private interpretation of 
the Reformed, but was plainly free and entitled to 
expound the heavenly oracles, and particular pas- 
sages of the sacred volume, according to the dic- 
tates of conscience; and that in so doing, he 
would ever be on his guard against advancing 
aught which went to tear up the foundation of the 
Christian faith. In the course of the discussion, 
the subject of predestination was mentioned once 
and again ; but he refused to touch on that doc- 
trine, on the ground that in his exposition of this 
seventh chapter he had advanced nothing what- 
ever which had the remotest bearing on that con- 
troversy. Being further asked what opinion he 
held as to the perfection of man in this life, he 
replied that he considered a question of this de- 
scription as altogether superfluous, having brought 
out his mind on this point more than a hundred 
times in the course of expounding the sixth and 
seventh chapters of that apostolic epistle. Other 
and more copious replies of Arminius to many 
allegations of this kind, will be found in his very 
finished "Dissertation on the true and genuine 
Sense of the Seventh Chapter of the Epistle to 
the Romans," which, in consequence of these com- 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 71 

motions, he afterward wrote during his leisure 
hours, and brought to a close about the cornnience- 
ment of the year 1600.* 

Notwithstanding these ways in which he strove 
to clear himself of the crimes laid to his charge, 
individuals were to be found who gave him daily 
trouble^— the leader of this clamoring choir being 
Peter Plancius. Indeed, so hot grew the strife at 
the beginning of the following year, that the very 
learned M. Lydius already mentioned, on being 
informed of the ecclesiastical controversies which 
had sprung up at Amsterdam, set out for the 
Hague, and entreated the help of Uitenbogaert to 
lull them to rest. He plied him with persuasive 
words ; and, instigated by the ardent love he bore 
to that nourishing church, the care of which had 
been committed to him some years before, he 
implored this minister of the Hague that, with 
the view of getting the matter settled, he would 
write to Arminius, (whom, he owned, the Classis 
had handled rather sharply,) or, better still, set 
out for Amsterdam, and try to persuade him, for 
the sake of preserving peace, to meet the views 
of his brethren and co-presbyters as far as in 
him lay, and the inviolability of a good conscience 
would permit, j- Nor did Lydius doubt that Ar- 

* Ex Epist. Arm. ad Uitenb., 26th Jan., 1600. 
f Vid. Hist. Uitenbog. Ecclesiast. 



72 THE LIFE OF 

minius would willingly comply with the advice 
of Uitenbogaert, partly from the great influence 
this man wielded in almost all the churches, and 
partly from the intimacy with him which Arminius 
had long since contracted and cherished. 

Swayed by these entreaties, Uitenbogaert re- 
paired to Amsterdam, and deemed it of the utmost 
importance to call upon the Rev. John Tafhn, 
minister of the Walloon Church. This was the 
first call he made. He explained to him the 
object of his journey; and having elicited from 
him the state of the entire controversy, he stren- 
uously besought him that he would not refuse to 
lend his endeavors toward healing this dissension. 
To this request Taffin readily yielded, and under- 
took, with the utmost cordiality, the same pro- 
vince with Uitenbogaert ; for he was a man most 
desirous — if ever man was — of Christian piety and 
peace. These two men, accordingly, after having 
consulted together, and combining their strength, 
waited, in the first instance, upon the Classis, and 
then upon Arminius, and proffered to both their 
very best services, with the view of restoring a 
good understanding. This offer both parties ac- 
cepted with thanks; and signified that nothing 
would gratify them more than that the means 
should be considered which might be most likely 
to reach that desirable end. A conference was 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 73 

forthwith appointed to be held in the house of 
Taffin ; and the charge of acting in the affair, and 
pleading their cause, was delegated by the Classis 
to certain of their own number. On that occa- 
sion, both the accusing and the accused party, after 
each had been heard, returned home without set- 
tling the affair. But Taffin and Uitenbogaert, 
judging it right not to rest in these preliminary 
steps, shortly after presented to the Church Court, 
at an extraordinary meeting, a certain formula, on 
the basis of which harmony might be restored. 
It was couched in the following terms :* 

"James Arminius declares that — although he is 
not conscious that he holds, or has taught, any 
thing different from what is set forth in the Con- 
fession and Catechism, or has given just cause to 
any for entertaining such a suspicion concerning 
him — nevertheless, for the sake of testifying his 
desire for the peace of the Church, and to disa- 
buse the minds of some of all sinister opinions, he 
is willing cordially to pledge his faith, by signing 
this document, that henceforth he will not only 
deliver to the Church nothing different from, but 
will also deliver to the Church the very thing 
contained in, the writings of the apostles and 
prophets, as these are explained in the Catechism 



* Ex actis Presbyt. Amst. citatis a Triglandio in Hist. Eccles. p. 284. 

4 



74 THELIFEOF 

and Confession, and everywhere taught in the 
Reformed Churches. Further, that he will so con- 
duct his discourses and exhortations (as he at the 
same time believes he has hitherto done) that no 
just ground shall ever be furnished to any for 
suspecting that he holds any thing different, con- 
cerning doctrine and ecclesiastical discipline, from 
what is comprehended in the Confession and Cate- 
chism, and in the articles of the last General 
Synod. If, moreover, any difficulty should arise 
in his mind concerning any articles of doctrine, he 
engages that he will take care not to make the 
same public, either from the pulpit, or anywhere 
else. Further, that, instead of this, it shall be 
open for him, in such a case, to confer with his 
brethren in the ministry. But should he feel that 
their arguments are not at all satisfactory to him, 
and that the difficulties in question still burden 
his mind, in these circumstances he engages volun- 
tarily to impose silence upon himself until a Gen- 
eral Council of the churches shall be called, by 
whose advice and judgment he will cheerfully 
abide. On the other hand, and finally, in order 
that mutual peace and harmony among the minis- 
ters of religion may be preserved the more invio- 
late, the colleagues of Arminius promise and engage 
(although, so far as concerns themselves, they deem 
this superfluous — never having given any one 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 75 

even the smallest occasion to question their fidelity 
and dut} r ) that they will take care, not only in 
their public discourses, but also in their private 
conversations, never to furnish any with just 
grounds for suspecting that they are not at peace 
amongst themselves : on this condition, however, 
that they shall not be held to have violated their 
engagement when, in defence of the true faith, 
they refute the arguments of adversaries, accord- 
ing to the formula of the Reformed doctrine 
received in the Low Countries. Which stipu- 
lation being made and heard, the Ecclesiastical 
Court, for important reasons, and chiefly with the 
view of promoting the peace of the Church, has 
judged it proper to suspend their own judgment 
upon the protestation of Arminius made in the 
commencement of this document, and forthwith 
consign to silence this whole affair; earnestly 
praying the ever -blessed God to conduct this 
attempt to a happy and prosperous result, for 
the glory of his name and the edification of the 
Church."* 

This scheme for restoring harmony having been 
drawn up and handed in, no doubt remained among 
reasonable men that, on these terms and engage- 
ments, both parties would at once agree to it. 

* Ex schedulis MS. J. Armin. vernacule script. 



76 THE LIFE OP 

But their hope proved fallacious. Arminius, in 
deed, cordially accepted these terms ; but the 
Classis, by a large majority, rejected them. Nay, 
more, Taffin and Uitenbogaert, after all the pains 
they had taken to promote the peace of the 
Church, received such slender thanks at the hand 
of some, that very injurious reports concerning 
them were circulated through the whole city, to 
the effect that they were abettors of erroneous 
opinions.* Wherefore, although they saw that 
their labor had been lost, and that no hope of 
restoring peace smiled upon them, so far as those 
ecclesiastics were concerned, still they felt it to be 
due to their own reputation to call the Church 
Court once more together. This being done, they 
vindicated their own innocence on a variety of 
grounds, and referred, with great boldness, to the 
injury done them by those who had so foully mis- 
represented this their mediation. They further 
begged and demanded of the assembled brethren, 
that they would take in good part the object at 
which, in true candor of spirit, they had aimed ; 
adding, that their determination was to take no 
further steps in the matter, but commit it to 
Divine Providence. 

Before, however, we narrate the progress and 

* Uitenb. Hist. Eccles. 



JAMES ARM INIUS. 77 

issue of this affair, we must not omit to mention 
that this same Uitenbogaert, whose earnest endea- 
vor to promote the peace of the church in Amster- 
dam has just been noticed, was found fault with 
at the very time, by some of the pastors of that 
church, even for the close intimacy which he cul- 
tivated with Arminius ; and that this circumstance 
probably had to do with the reasons why his 
counsel was not listened to. This is corroborated 
by the following account, drawn up by the hand 
of Arminius himself, now in glory, which, as it 
has not been mentioned by any writer, so far as I 
know, I reckon not unworthy of being introduced 
in this connection. 

A few days, then, previous to the arrival of 
Uitenbogaert, on the occasion of having decided 
to give a call to Jeremias Basting, the honorable 
senators had signified, in no ambiguous terms, that 
nothing would be more agreeable to their wish 
than that a grave deliberation should be entered 
into by the Classical Court, as to the propriety of 
calling, in addition to Basting, that very eloquent 
minister of the Church in the Hague, of whom 
they affirmed that they had some reason to believe 
he would accede to the call. The court accord- 
ingly met to consider this matter on the 14th of 
January; and on each being asked to give his 
conscientious opinion on this proposal of the hon- 



78 THELIFEOP 

orable senators, up rose Plancius first of all, and 
declared " That he had heard some things concern- 
ing Uitenbogaert which furnished ground to sus- 
pect that on certain doctrines of the Christian 
faith he was not decided, particularly on the doc- 
trine of original sin, which, he was reported to 
have said, received no countenance from the pas- 
sage in the fifth chapter of Romans, and the 
others commonly cited. Further, that Uitenbo- 
gaert had sometimes, in his presence, mooted 
certain doubts respecting several questions in the 
Catechism ; that on one occasion he had declared 
of a certain Arian book, that it was unanswerable ; 
and that he wished he could see the book of 
Coornhert satisfactorily refuted. That, in addition 
to all this, it was rumored that he held the same 
view with Arminius on the seventh chapter of the 
Romans ; and, consequently, that to call that man, 
particularly at that time, would not tend much to 
the good of the church."* 

To these and similar aspersions thus openly 
promulgated, and seriously implicating the cha- 
racter of an absent friend, whom he loved as a 
brother, Arminius fearlessly opposed himself; and 
showed that the charges above specified rested 
upon mere suspicions, and would at once vanish 

* Ex schedulis MS. Arminii. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 79 

into smoke as soon as Uitenbogaert was present 
to speak for himself. Arminius, accordingly, and 
a few others, gave it as their opinion that the pro- 
posal of the senators should be agreed to, and that 
Uitenbogaert himself be directly treated with in 
the matter. But their counsel was rejected, it 
being carried by a majority of votes to request 
the senators, through delegates to be appointed at 
that meeting, to allow them to carry into effect 
the proposed call to Basting; and to intimate to 
them, at the same time, that the Classis had rea- 
sons satisfactory to itself for judging that the 
idea of calling that minister of the Hague was one 
which ought to be abandoned. These delegates, 
moreover — consisting of two of the elders, Thomas 
Kronenburg and John de Vry, men of the highest 
respectability and of senatorial dignity — were em- 
powered to disclose the considerations mentioned 
above, should the senators press it. 

As soon as Uitenbogaert received some inkling 
of the affair, though he had come to Amsterdam 
specially for the sake of Arminius, and of the 
church in that city, he was nevertheless unwilling 
to let the occasion slip without taking measures to 
vindicate his own character. Wherefore, falling 
upon Peter Plancius, the fabricator of those wicked 
suspicions which some had conceived against him, 
he entered into a serious expostulation with him 



80 THE LIFE OF 

in respect to every particular, and reduced him to 
such straits that he pleaded guilty of imprudence, 
and pledged his faith that he would inform the 
Church Court of all that had passed between him 
and Uitenbogaert. This promise he implemented 
on the 23d of the same month, in the presence of 
the whole Classis ; on which, that body commis- 
sioned the same delegates who had previously met 
with the senators, to intimate, in the name of their 
entire meeting, to the honorable magistrates of the 
city, that all those doubts which some had started 
respecting Uitenbogaert had vanished, after he 
and Plancius had been brought face to face. 

Having briefly and cursorily disposed 'of this 
circumstance respecting Uitenbogaert, it now re- 
mains that we proceed to trace the progress and 
issue of this affair for the settlement of which he 
had undertaken a winter's journey — as yet with- 
out any satisfactory result. In this conjuncture, 
then, of ecclesiastical affairs, it pleased the supreme 
rulers of the city to call Uitenbogaert — who was 
already on the eve of returning home — and the 
Rev. John Taffin into the council -hall, and make 
inquiry into the state of the whole matter, and 
the steps thus far they had taken in regard to it. 
This mandate these two ministers most promptly 
obeyed; and after explaining every thing which 
seemed to bear on the case, with a courteous fare- 



JAMES ARM INIUS. 81 

well, and an exchange of grateful acknowledg- 
ments, they took their leave. 

Shortly after, when the annual change of magis- 
trates had taken place, and Uitenbogaert set out 
for the Hague, the new senators, Reiner Cant, 
William Bardes, Corn. Flor. van Teilingen, and 
Nic. F. Oetgenius a Waveren, cited before them 
all the ministers of religion, in a body, on the 
11th of February, at three o'clock in the after- 
noon ; and that the matter might be transacted 
with the greater authority and effect, they asked 
the presence also of these very influential persons, 
P. Bomius, Corn. P. Hoofdius, and Barthold Crom- 
hout, who had just retired from the office of chief 
magistrates of the city.* The ministers having 
arrived at the time appointed, the senators inti- 
mated to them, through Cant, who was in the 
chair, "that they had perceived with pain from 
their public ministrations, and that for a consider- 
able time back, as well as from the complaints of 
several citizens, that they were not at peace 
among themselves. Dissensions of that kind must 
be checked in the bud, lest they should issue in 
results disastrous to the Church, and even to the 
Republic itself. The honorable senators, there- 
fore, in consideration of the office with which they 



* Ex schedulis MS. Arminii. 
4* 



82 THE LIFE OF 

were intrusted, wished and enjoined that the min- 
isters would diligently apply themselves hence- 
forth to the cultivation of peace and harmony, of 
which they had hitherto stood forth as an exam- 
ple to other Churches ; and avoid giving any one 
occasion, by their declamatory statements, to sus- 
pect that some serious contentions were fostered 
amongst them. But if they did happen to differ 
on some points, it was lawful for them to institute 
amongst themselves private and friendly confer- 
ences on such topics ; only, they must see to it 
that these differences do not find their way from 
the Ecclesiastical Court into the pulpit, and thence 
to the public. Should they fail in this duty, they 
(the senators) would be obliged to have recourse 
to other remedies, that no harm might accrue to 
the Church and the Republic." 

To these counsels, after having retired a little 
for deliberation, the ministers replied, through the 
Rev. J. Ambrosius, " That they were in the high- 
est degree grateful to the honorable senators for 
their care of the Amsterdam Church. For them- 
selves, they were actuated by a most intense desire 
to preserve peace, which they had now cultivated 
for thirteen years, and had never afforded ground 
to any one for thinking otherwise of them. But 
if any one of their number felt himself to be 
chargeable with the above-named delinquency, 



JAMES AEMINIUS. 83 

his duty it was to rid himself of it. Hitherto it 
had been, their strenuous endeavor to adjust, if 
possible, by friendly conferences, the difference 
that had arisen between Arminius and the Classis; 
and to that matter, and consequently to the resto- 
ration of peace, they would forthwith give their 
best attention." * 

Arminius, having obtained leave to speak, then 
addressed himself to the senators, and solemnly 
protested, " That in expounding the seventh chap- 
ter of the Romans, in a way different from that 
adopted by many of the Reformed, he had not 
taught, nor did he wish to teach, any thing what- 
ever that was in any respect at variance with the 
Confession and Palatine Catechism. He had not 
entertained a doubt that it would be free to him, 
in the exercise of that liberty to discuss sacred 
subjects which belonged to all Christians and 
Christian teachers whatsoever, to expound this or 
that passage of Scripture according to the dictates 
of conscience. Further, since the hinge of the 
existing difference turned mainly on this point, 
that some thought his opinion of that passage op- 
posed to the received ecclesiastical formularies, and 
that this was a charge of which he could be easily 
convicted, he, for his part, held himself in readi- 

* Ex schedulis MS. Arminii. 



84 THELIPEOP 

ness, for the vindication of his name, to enter into 
a conference with his compeers ; but he earnestly 
entreated that such conference should take place 
in the presence of the senators themselves, or 
their delegates ; for he anticipated that the issue 
of this case would be more satisfactory were these 
influential men to be present, not as witnesses 
merely, but as moderators and righteous arbiters 
in respect to all that might be advanced on either 
side." 

The Rev. J. Kuchlinus, on hearing this, instantly 
arose, and, after some prefatory reference to the 
fidelity with which he himself had discharged his 
duty for thirteen years, begged, in opposition to 
Arminius, that the conference in question, of which 
many were so solicitous, might, according to the 
usage of the Church, be entered into in presence 
of the Classis alone. At length, both sides having 
been heard with the utmost attention, the ministers 
were ordered to retire for a little ; and after gravely 
deliberating on the matter, the honorable Cant 
intimated to them, in name of the whole of that 
august body, " That it was the opinion and decree 
of the honorable senators, that the Church Court 
should allow this whole matter to rest, and permit 
whatever discussions had arisen out of it up to 
this time to be consigned to oblivion. A fresh 
conference upon it did not appear to them to be 



JAMES AEMINIUS. 85 

suitable, or likely to do good. They (the minis- 
ters) must henceforth be on their guard lest any 
of them should give vent to new doctrines from 
the pulpit. Should any of them have opinions in 
which they differed from other divines, and on 
which they boasted a profounder knowledge, it 
would be incumbent on them to reserve these to 
themselves, and to talk them over in a friendly 
manner with their compeers. Meanwhile, those 
who think differently, and who cannot be convinced 
of error, must be calmly forborne with until the 
points in dispute be decided by the authority of 
some council." This decree of the chief rulers was 
followed up by a very grave and serious admoni- 
tion from Cant himself, and W. Bardes, to cultivate 
that fraternal harmony and peace by which they 
were wont to be distinguished ; after listening to 
which, the ministers expressed their acknowledg- 
ments and withdrew. 



80 



THE LIFE OF 



CHAPTER III. 

ARMINIUS, IN EXPOUNDING ROMANS IX., ENCOUNTERS FRESH 
STORMS — CONFUTES THE CALUMNIES OF PLANCIUS ; AND 
CORRESPONDS, ON POINTS IN DISPUTE, WITH GELLIUS 
SNECANUS AND FRANCIS JUNIUS. — A. D. 1592-1597. 

The foregoing matter being settled, and the 
peace of the Church having, in the way narrated, 
been to some extent restored, Arminius forthwith 
proceeded with his series of discourses on the 
Epistle to the Romans. To these, high and low 
flocked in crowds, as the day came round, includ- 
ing individuals of diverse shades of religious opin- 
ion. Nor were the aims of the several auditors 
of a less varied complexion. Some were attracted 
by genuine attachment to the man, and by the 
very great celebrity associated with his name. 
Others rushed upon him, on the other hand, by a 
sort of blind impulse, and listened to his discourses 
with no other view than to extract from them 
materials with which to lessen his growing fame, 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 87 

and array against him as much as possible of envy 
and ill-will. This Arminius soon suspected, and 
deemed it his duty, in consequence, to take the 
more care, on the one hand, not to do violence to 
his conscience, by advocating certain doctrines of 
the truth of which he had some doubt; but neither, 
on the other, to advance aught at variance with 
received opinions which might justly and warrant- 
ably offend the ears of dissentients. But with all 
the prudence and perseverance with which he 
pursued this aim, now that an unfavorable opinion 
had once been formed against him, he could not 
succeed in thoroughly rooting it out of the minds 
of his compeers, and of those who yielded them- 
selves up to their authority. 

That feeling began especially to be resuscitated 
in the commencement of the following year, on 
the occasion of his expounding the ninth chapter 
of the Romans. While occupied with this chap- 
ter, and aware that it was everywhere cited by 
Reformed divines as the main prop of their tenet 
of absolute predestination, Arminius made up his 
mind neither to advocate nor to contradict that 
opinion, but contented himself with affirming that 
the apostle in this place prosecutes the argument 
and the aim which he had prescribed to himself in 
the foregoing chapters, and vindicates his doctrine 
of the justification of man by faith against a variety 



88 THELIPEOP 

of objections urged by the Jews.* These, accord- 
ingly, he refuted in several discourses, and by 
solid reasonings ; but although he was allowed by 
many to have acted the part of a strenuous 
champion of the Christian religion, he roused 
against himself the less favorable judgments of 
others. For when, in the course of elucidating 
the scope of St. Paul, and expounding this memo- 
rable chapter, he pursued a path in some respects 
new, and made no reference whatever to the more 
crude opinions which were commonly grounded 
upon it, the most of his ministerial brethren in- 
veighed against him all the more that they saw 
him rising rapidly in the estimation of Lutherans, 
Mennonites, and others, who were dissatisfied with 
the harsher statements, on that subject, of the 
Reformed. The Ecclesiastical Senate, therefore, 
having met once and again in the absence of Ar- 
minius, at length, on the 25th of March, began 
openly to deal with him. On that occasion, the 
Rev. J. Hallius, in name of the entire judicatory, 
addressed him, and declared " that he had listened 
with the utmost pain to the complaints of some 
of the citizens, whom his lectures on the ninth 
chapter of the Romans had in the highest degree 
disturbed. The avowed enemies of the Church 

* Vid. Uitenb. Hist. Eccles. 



JAMES AEMINIUS. 89 

had thence taken occasion to cavil at the Reformed 
doctrine; and many Christians were furnished 
with good ground to suspect that on several doc- 
trines some diversity of opinion was secretly fos- 
tered between him and the other ministers of the 
gospel. With the view of foreclosing further 
alienation of spirit, the Presbytery had resolved 
to warn him of this matter, and to request that 
he would preach the self- same doctrines as his 
colleagues, and declare openly from the pulpit that 
he had never uttered any thing contrary to the 
Confession and Catechism, and that those who 
suspected him of such a thing had very griev- 
ously misunderstood his discourses."* To this 
Arminius replied, " That he had heard with no 
less pain of the clandestine slanders of some, and 
of his being branded with the names of heretic, 
libertine, and Pelagian. He had never given any 
man occasion to think so unfavorably of him. 
The Reformed Confession and Catechism he had 
never contradicted, but, on the contrary, had 
always preached in harmony with them ; and 
more than once, from the very pulpit, had he 
made a declaration to that effect. But if any 
man would accuse him openly, and in his presence, 
and thought he could convict him of that crime, 

* Ex schedulis MS. Arminii. Vide et acta Presbyt. Amstel. citata 
a Trigland in Hist. Eccles. 



90 THE LIFE OP 

he was ready, there and then, to hear the evi- 
dence, and defend his own innocence. It- was 
theirs frankly to accept this candid declaration, to 
divest the minds of others of such injurious sus- 
picions, and to allow him to rejoice in the name 
of a good man until it could be proved by indubi- 
table testimony that he had fallen out of the appel- 
lation. He, for his part, deemed this admonition 
of the Presbytery uncalled for, so far as concerned 
himself; and in the exercise of the same right 
which the brethren were using in regard to him, 
as well as from a desire for the preservation of 
peace, he, in his turn, warned and entreated them 
not to deliver any thing at variance with the 
word of God, or the received standards of faith, 
and never to use expressions extraneous to these, 
of a nature fitted to stir doubts in the minds of 
the weak, or furnish any with an occasion of stum- 
bling. Nay, more, since no man had openly 
accused him, and merely a rumor had spread, that 
in discourses lately delivered he had betrayed the 
existence of some undefined sort of difference 
between him and his brethren in the ministry, it 
was as much their duty to see to it that they 
agreed well with him, as it was his duty to see to 
it that he agreed well with them — it being incum- 
bent on both to do what in them lay for the pre- 
servation of peace, in those articles to the truth 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 91 

of which they had all equally subscribed." This 
was spoken with some warmth, and many speeches 
followed on both sides ; when one of the elders 
betrayed sufficiently his want of self-control in 
the following outburst : " He saw the arts of the 
Devil to disturb the peace of this Church. Some 
of the rulers themselves had this object in view. 
It was of no use for Arminius to appeal to the 
Confession and Catechism, seeing he had already 
explained two passages of Scripture against the 
sense of these standards. For his part, after 
hearing him interpret the seventh chapter of Ro- 
mans, he could never derive any benefit from his 
discourses." To this Arminius modestly replied, 
" That, by the help of God, he would not prove 
an instigator and author of strife. It ought to be 
matter of faithful inquiry, by whom, and through 
what secret channels, the sworn foe of the human 
race was attempting to sow controversies and 
engender discord. He hoped better things of his 
lords, the clement rulers of the city. So far was 
he from believing that any one of them aimed at 
such an end, that he, on the contrary, felt assured, 
that whatever authority they had at command, it 
would be all exercised with the utmost modera- 
tion, in the way of calling to order such ecclesias- 
tics as were neglecting their duty and fomenting 
division. His own conscience witnessed to him- 



92 THE LIFE OP 

self — what he was further assured of by the 
testimony of not a few — that his discourses had 
not been useless, nor their delivery without fruit. 
As to the passages of Scripture expounded con- 
trary to the sense of the Confession, that was a 
charge of which no man could convict him. He 
acknowledged that the eighteenth verse of the 
seventh chapter of the Romans was quoted in the 
margin of the Confession with a somewhat differ- 
ent application ; but truly, if every divine of the 
Reformed Church must needs stick so tightly by 
the track of that Confession, and if it was to be 
at once set down as an enormous offence for any 
one, in quoting passages of Scripture, too, to 
deviate from it even the breadth of his nail, it 
would be an easy matter for him to prove the 
most of his co-presbyters guilty of this delin- 
quency ; for more than once had they preached in 
contrariety, not merely to certain passages cited 
in the margin, but to some which stand out to 
view in the very text of the Confession."* To 
this the Reverend Kuchlinus did not object, but 
subjoined, " That if there was agreement in all 
those points Avhich constituted the hinge on which 
the articles of the Confession turned, there would 
be little trouble in adjusting the rest." These 

* Ex schedulis MS. Arminii. 



JAMES AEMINIUS. 93 

things accordingly were dismissed; after which, 
certain questions were started respecting the duty 
of elders and ecclesiastical discipline, on which 
Arminius and his reverend colleague, John Hals- 
berg, were suspected of entertaining some erron- 
eous opinion. They defended themselves each in 
a lengthy reply, and cleared themselves of the 
charges which were preferred against them. At 
last, addressing Arminius, J. Hallius, the president 
and moderator of the Presbytery for the time 
being, declared that he had much pleasure in 
hearing him express his readiness to cultivate 
union with his brethren in the matter of doc- 
trine and ecclesiastical discipline ; and after pray- 
ing that God would smile on these beginnings, 
and guide the whole affair to an issue happy 
and prosperous for the Church, he dismissed the 
meeting. 

Some hot-headed zealots, however, determined 
that the matter should not rest here, stirred up 
fresh strifes against Arminius ; and by dint of 
incessant slanders they so far succeeded, that the 
Presbytery, convened without his knowledge on 
the 22d April, resolved, " That he be called upon 
to declare distinctly, and without any circumlocu- 
tion, his opinion on all the articles of faith ; and 
that, in the event of his demurring to this request, 
certain theses and anti-theses be forthwith prepared, 



94 THELIFEOP 

on which a conference shall be held with him."* 
As soon as Arminius received intimation of this 
counsel and decree, which he did on the 6th May, 
he decided that it was not his duty to give an 
immediate reply, but that, on the contrary, he 
ought to petition the Presbytery for a reasonable 
space of time to consider the matter. At a meet- 
ing of the Presbytery a few weeks after, (on the 
20th May,) some of its members reminded him 
of the matter, and ceased not to rake up the old 
embers of strife ; when Arminius, starting to his 
feet in the midst of them, challenged all, with a 
loud voice, to stand forth, whosoever they were, 
that had a mind to produce aught from his dis- 
courses that was worthy of censure.f No one 
rising, some one of them threw out the solitary 
objection, " That from the testimony of Martinists, 
Anabaptists, and even libertines themselves, who 
gloried in his discourses on the ninth chapter of 
the Ptomans, it was not unwarrantable to infer 
that he had taught and maintained something 
different from that which was taught by his brother 
ministers, and everywhere taught by Reformed 
divines." This consequence Arminius denied, and 
said, " That to him it appeared strange, that men 

* Vide acta Presbyt. Amstel. citata a Triglandio in Hist. Eccles. 
pag. 284. 

f Ex schedulis Arminii. 



JAMES ARM INIUS. 95 

of so many conflicting opinions could applaud his 
discourses, but that no one of his own order — no 
one of this meeting — had heard any thing which 
could be shown to be at variance with the word 
of God, and the received formularies of consent." 
To this one of the elders rejoined," That it must 
indeed be admitted that he had been rigidly on his 
guard against openly advancing any thing worthy 
of censure ; but that he had nevertheless employed 
ambiguous and equivocal modes of speech." Ar- 
minius here asserted his innocence, and demanded 
proof of the above allegation, that he might the 
better avoid, for the time to come, such modes of 
speech ; but no one was found who would under- 
take the task of substantiating that charge. 

Nor was this all. A few days after, (on the 
27th May,) at the very next meeting of the 
Ecclesiastical Senate, Arminius, perceiving that 
the minds of many were not yet set at rest, called 
out twice or thrice in the open meeting for the 
secret calumniators of his name, and ordered them 
to produce in his presence whatever they had 
against him. This challenge being given, Kuchlinus 
immediately asked "Where Plancius was now;" 
and began to urge on him " That, as he had occa- 
sionally, in the absence of Arminius, started doubts 
as to his doctrine, he should come out with them 
now that Arminius was present and within hear- 



96 THELIFEOP 

ing. This was the proper place ; this the fit time 
to speak out his mind."* Pressed by this sum- 
mons, and called upon by Arminius to stand forth 
as his adversary, Plancius repudiated that insidi- 
ous name of adversary, but acknowledged that he 
had observed several things in the discourses of 
Arminius which did not correspond with sufficient 
exactness to the doctrines received by the Re- 
formed Church. The sum of his accusation was 
as follows : 

I. Arminius, when expounding the ninth chap- 
ter of the Romans, had taught "that no one is 
condemned except on account of sin" — thereby 
excluding all infants from condemnation. 

II. He had also declared " that too much could 
not be ascribed to good works, nor could they be 
sufficiently commended, provided no merit were 
attributed to them." 

III. He had affirmed that "Angels are not im- 
mortal." -\ 

To these several heads of charge Arminius re- 
plied — 

As to the first, when he affirmed that sin is the 
cause of condemnation, he did not by these words 

* This is more smartly expressed in the original by the pungent 
proverb, "hie Rhodum, hie saltum esse." — Tr. 

f Ex schedulis Arminii. Vide vitam Uitenb. Belgico idiomate ab 
ipso conscript, edit. 1645, p. 54. 



JAMES AE JUNIUS. 97 

except original sin ; nor did Plancius rightly un- 
derstand the nature of our original taint if he 
meant to exclude it from the designation of sin. 

The second, relating to what he had affirmed of 
good works, he was so far from disclaiming, that 
he would defend it as the truth. 

Here Plancius put the question — " If justifica- 
tion, then, was to be ascribed to good works also, 
provided no merit were ascribed to them ?" 

Arminius replied, " That justification is to be 
ascribed, not to works, but to faith ; in proof of 
which St, Paul says, in Romans iv., 4th and 5th — 
'Now to him that worketh is the reward not 
reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that 
worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth 
the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteous- 
ness.' " 

As. to the third head of charge, that relating to 
angels, he acknowledged that he had given vent to 
that opinion, and defended it with solid arguments, 
never indeed in public, but privately on one occa- 
sion in the house of Plancius ; adding, that " it 
was still his opinion that immortality was the 
peculiar attribute of God alone — this being evident 
from the testimony of Paul in 1st Timothy vi. 16. 
The angels, indeed, were, and would continue to 
be, happy and immortal spirits, not, however, by 
virtue of their nature, but by the external susten- 
5 



98 THELIFEOP 

tation of God, eternally preserving them in being 
— -just as human bodies before the fall were mor- 
tal, and susceptible of dissolution, but yet would 
never have been subjected to death, had not sin 
supervened." 

This discussion with Plancius he followed up by 
the declaration, "That up to that hour he had 
never, so far as he knew, taught any thing at 
variance with the Confession and Catechism ; and 
that he received the several articles and doctrines 
of faith, comprehended in these writings, in the 
very sense in which they were everywhere ex- 
plained by the Reformed Church. The only 
scruple of which he was then conscious, related 
to the interpretation of the sixteenth article of the 
Belgic Confession, to the terms of which, how- 
ever, he willingly adhered." ' On this under- 
standing, the Presbytery decided, " That there 
was no necessity for any further dealing with 
Arminius in regard to this matter, but that fra- 
ternal fellowship continue to be cultivated with 
him, until the true and genuine sense of the 
article just named should be more clearly opened 
up to him by the blessing of God, and by the 
interpretation of a General Synod." f 

A reconcilation being thus effected with his 

* Ex Actis Presbyt. Amstel. f Vid. Trigland. Hist. Eccles. p. 284. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 99 

colleagues, and the disputes that had arisen re- 
specting his discourses being allayed, he was 
permitted after that to live at peace in the Church. 
At subsequent periods, indeed, the envy of certain 
parties led them to strew secret snares in his path, 
and to put an injurious construction, occasionally, 
upon some of his best words and deeds. This he 
experienced when engaged with the exposition of 
the thirteenth chapter of the Romans, where, in 
the course of profound and learned discussions on 
the various duties of magistrates, he was thought 
by some to have conceded to them too much of 
charge and jurisdiction in matters of religion. 
But we find it nowhere recorded that on the 
ground of these and other things of the like trivial 
importance, proceedings were openly and publicly 
instituted against him. From this time, therefore, 
in an active and uninterrupted course, he not only 
prosecuted that series of lectures, but also prose- 
cuted, concurrently therewith, on stated days, his 
exposition of the Prophecies of Malachi, which he 
completed in sixty -nine discourses. Moreover, 
by his indefatigable study of theology, and his 
solid acquirements, no less, in the liberal arts, he 
became increasingly every day the ornament and 
the boast, not only of the Church, but even of the 
P^epublic and people of Amsterdam. Hence, 
when, in the course of the year 1594, it was in 



100 THE LIFE OF 

agitation to remodel the elementary schools, the 
illustrious Senate of the city thought fit to make 
choice of him in preference to others, to whom the 
charge of performing this office should, by public 
appointment, be committed. Wherefore, acting 
the part, on this occasion, of a most faithful gov- 
ernor of schools, he drew up, with the view of 
reducing them to a better state, those scholastic 
regulations which, exhibiting alike the duties of 
master and pupil, are statedly rehearsed to this 
day, every half year, in the Choir of the New 
Temple at Amsterdam, by the rectors of that 
institution, at the close of the spring and autumn 
examinations. This is proved by the very auto- 
graph of these laws, in the handwriting of Armin- 
ius himself, which is preserved to this day by that 
eminent leader of the Remonstrants, and professor 
of theology among them, Philip Limborch. That 
distinguished man, too, the director of the Amster- 
dam school, to whom, as respects our scholastic 
institutions, we are under the deepest obligation, — 
the incomparable Adrian Junius, of Utrecht, — 
used often to refer with pride to their having 
obtained a framer of laws of such great celebrity, 
and to congratulate the school of Amsterdam on 
that behalf. 

Meanwhile, (not to waste time with these de- 
tails,) Arminius proceeded to investigate more 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 101 

thoroughly the generally received tenets of the 
Geneva school, respecting Divine predestination, 
and strove with all his might to extricate himself 
from those doubts and difficulties in which he had 
hitherto stuck fast. While intent at this work, 
nothing interested him more than to discover that, 
here and there, others, leaders of the Reformed 
Church, distinguished in like manner for learning 
and piety, were possessed with the self- same 
solicitude and desire. Preeminent among these 
at that time was Gellius Snecanus, a most learned 
minister of Friesland. This man having, in the 
year 159G, published his " Introduction to the 
Ninth, Chapter of the Romans," Arminius was 
penetrated with the more delight, that he found 
his views to coincide almost entirely with his own. 
On perusing the commentary of this writer, (in 
whose judgment he reposed very much confi- 
dence,) he at once discovered that he had taken 
the very same view of the scope of the apostle, 
and of the principal argument treated in this 
chapter, which he himself, when engaged in ex- 
pounding the same portion, had shortly before 
propounded from the pulpit in Amsterdam. He 
ingenuously acknowledged that that chapter of 
Paul's Epistle always appeared to him to be 
enveloped in thickest darkness, and to be of most 
difficult exposition, until by that course which 



102 THE LIFE OF 

Snecanus, and he himself some time before, had pur- 
sued, the light shone in and dispelled the gloom.* 
Wherefore, prizing highly the work of this cele- 
brated divine, he not only thanked him by letter, 
but also transmitted to him, on his part, an epis- 
tolary "Analysis of the Ninth Chapter of the 
Romans," for the sake of testifying their harmony 
of sentiment, and of proving that that well-known 
passage of the apostle did little or nothing to 
confirm that decree of absolute election and repro- 
bation which very many deduced from it. But 
he deemed it dutiful, in the circumstances, to use 
much circumspection ; for the times in which he 
lived did not admit either of his safely impugning 
or freely advocating views in any respect at vari- 
ance with that dismal opinion of a fatal decree to 
which, he devoutly believed, the most celebrated 
fathers of the Preformed Church, even as others, 
had been led to subscribe by a certain veneration 
for the Sacred Scriptures. He thought it advis- 
able, therefore, above all, in order to disburden 
himself of his scruples on this subject, without 
tumult and uproar, and without disparaging those 
whose reputation it was of the utmost consequence 
to the Church to preserve inviolate, that he should 
communicate his thoughts, (long kept to himself, 

* Ex Epist. Arm. ad G. Snecan. 



JAMES AEMINIDS. 103 

and subjected to frequent revision,) on the dogma 
above named, to several individuals of the highest 
name and authority, and confer with them pri- 
vately both by tongue and pen. For if he had 
but proved his opinion to their satisfaction, he 
anticipated that there would be little difficulty in 
proving it to the rest, who all hung, for the most 
part, on the lips of these great men, and were 
likely, ere long, to make their appeal to them. 
Happen what might, he hoped to make it evident 
to every candid judge that he had practiced no 
disingenuous arts, and had never shrunk from the 
judgment and scrutiny of any ; but in the event 
of his becoming, in this way, more assured of the 
truth of his sentiments, he cherished the hope 
that the whole case would come eventually to 
be submitted in due form, under the sanction of 
public authority, to the solemn decision of a theo- 
logical council, and the true and milder opinion 
on the subject duly and formally ratified.* Trust- 
ing to these considerations, and having now for 
some time made the Revs. M. Lydius, J. Taffin, 
and his colleague, J. Kuchlinus, cognizant of his 
doubts and his plans, at their instigation he 
resolved to open his mind on all those points to 
that great pillar of theology and of the Reformed 

* Ex Epist. dedic. praefixa Exaruini libelli Perkinsiani de Prsedest. 
modo et ordine. 



104 THE LIFE OP • 

religion, well known for his moderation toward 
those — even Papists themselves — who differed from 
him in opinion,* Francis Junius, of Bourges, who 
in the University of Leyden, of all who at that 
time professed sacred literature, confessedly occu- 
pied the highest place. 

Accordingly, being invited, early in the year 
1597, to the marriage of the Rev. J. Kuchlinus, — 
who, having some time previously undertaken the 
office of professor, had contracted a matrimonial 
engagement with the aunt of Arminius, — he set 
out for Leyden ; and on that occasion, on a certain 
afternoon, he entered fully and freely into conver- 
sation with Junius on the cause of the fall of our 
first parents, and on the mode of that fall, namely, 
how far it may be regarded as contingent, and how 
far as necessary. The occasion, materials, and 
scope of this interview were furnished by a cer- 
tain treatise on that subject which Junius had 
lately published. In the course of it, Arminius 
started various doubts and difficulties respecting 



* Beautifully characteristic of Junius is the following morccau, 
■which we owe to Gerard Brandt, the father of our biographer: " In 
a company of French divines the following question was put to Junius, 
■viz. : ' If you were to lose all your writings, but had it in your power 
to save one, which of them would you wish to keep V He answered, 
'The Peaceable Christian; [a treatise intended to promote peace;] 
for the rest of my books I wrote as a divine, but this as a Christian.' " 
— Hist, of Reform, in Low Countries, vol. ii. p. 21. — Tn. 



JAMES ARM I N ITT S. 105 

the mystery of Divine Providence and infinite 
prescience.* They also entered into the question 
— "How, admitting that immutable and fixed 
decree which the followers of Calvin and Beza 
attributed to God, man could be said to have 
nevertheless voluntarily fallen, and to have been 
master of his own actions ?"f To these, and 
other difficulties of the same description, Junius 
replied in such a manner, and cleared up so ably 
and satisfactorily the nature of things contingent 
and of things necessary, that Arminius shortly 
after declared, in a letter to Uitenbogaert, "that 
he had been as much charmed with the answers of 
Junius as if he had discovered an immense trea- 
sure ;" and further, " that in comparison with a 
knowledge sure and satisfactory to his own mind 
on points relating to providence and predestina- 
tion, on which he had now, for seven years, been 
perplexed with distracting doubts, he set a trivial 
value on all the wealth of Croesus and of Midas, 
and on the treasures of the whole world." On 
perceiving, moreover, that the sentiments of this 
very eminent divine, on the points above-named, 
did not differ from his own, and that this inter- 
view with him thus far had turned out according 

* Vide pleniorem hujus rei narrat. in Epist. Armin. ad Uitenb. 7 
Febr., 1597. 

f Vid. Epist. Eccles. in folio Amst. 1684, edit. pag. 33, 34, 35. 
5* 



106 THE LIFE OP 

to his wish, he took occasion to discuss some points 
also connected with predestination, not so much 
to obtain information respecting them — which, 
owing to the limited time and the advancing even- 
ing, was scarcely practicable — as to intimate that 
it was a subject in which he stuck fast, and that 
he hoped to be able, by his aid, to get himself 
speedily extricated. This aid Junius most kindly 
promised him, if he would communicate, by letter, 
whatever points were agitating his mind. On this 
they exchanged a pledge of silence, lest, by the 
officious zeal of certain parties, some mischief 
should chance to befall the one or the other. 
Arminius, accordingly, overjoyed at the offer, and 
deeming the opportunity too precious to be neg- 
lected, sent him, a few months after, an epistolary 
disquisition concerning the truth of different opin- 
ions on the subject of predestination, in which a 
variety of arguments were advanced to prove that 
the sentiments of certain parties labored under 
many difficulties.* In particular, as, in the esti- 
mation of not a few, the illustrious Junius himself, 
treading in the footsteps of the Thomists, seemed 
not so much to abandon as merely to shade off 
that harsher sentiment of Calvin and Beza, (for 



* Ex Epist. Declic. Bertii Epistolicse huic Arm. cum Junio colla- 
tioni prasfixa. 



JAMES AEMINIUS. 107 

he held the subject of predestination to be, not 
man as whom God had not yet decreed to create, 
nor man viewed as created with the foreknowledge 
of his fall, but man viewed as created, in so far as 
he, furnished with natural gifts, was invited to 
avail himself of a supernatural good — a position 
which Junius repeatedly defended in the univer- 
sity,) Arminius attempted to prove, by a few 
select arguments, that both opinions, [that is, both 
his and Calvin's,] in addition to other disadvan- 
tages, involved the necessity of sin, and, conse- 
quently, that recourse must be had to a third, 
[that is, his own,] which presupposed the creation 
and the fall. On the strength of this position, it 
was his intention to proceed farther, and at length 
affirm the decree of God concerning the salvation 
of believers and the condemnation of unbelievers. 
But to this communication Junius replied some 
considerable time after, and sent, too, in his turn, 
a written statement which, to use the words of 
Arminius himself, was " truly pious, learned, and 
full of brotherly love." We may give the intro- 
ductory part of this reply, as it stands, in proof 
of the consummate modesty and of the gentleness 
of spirit which characterized that distinguished 
man. 

" The cause of my long silence, esteemed brother, 
has been Tertullian, with whom, you are aware, I 



108 THE LIFE OF 

have now for a considerable time been engaged.* 
Meanwhile, I put your letter in a drawer out of 
my sight, that, as soon as I had time to do so, I 
might remember the duty I owed you, and attend 
to the tenor of your request. And indeed you 
wish me to give you a clear explanation of a very 
grave question — a question, the amount of truth 
involved in which God alone fully knows. What 
is sufficient he has revealed in the written word, 
which, according to the will of Gocl, we each consult. 
What is your opinion, and what is not, you plainly 
state ; what is my opinion you wish me to declare, 
that by this mutual encounter and disclosure of 
mind we may elucidate truth on the subject of 
Divine grace. According to the measure which 
God hath dealt to me, I will do what I can, and 
state whatever I know of this most stupendous 
mystery, whether I should be seeing in truth, or 
through the glass of opinion ; that what is of God 
you may share with me, and what we see not you 
may investigate with me — as far as may be found 
in the word. What is of my opinion, merely, if 
you should see farther than I do, kindly and 
fraternally disclose, and by salutary counsel recall 
me into the way of truth. Of preliminary points 



* Junius here alludes to his Notes on Tertullian, a work with which, 
it appears, he was at this time occupied. — Tk. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 109 

I will here say nothing, my wish being to proceed 
at once to the subject itself, as tending more to 
1 the use of edifying,' which the apostle enjoins. 
All, as I judge, are zealous for piety and truth ; 
but all do not, on this account, amid their piety, 
see the whole truth.* We all know in part, and 
prophesy in part ; and day by day does the Spirit 
of truth lead us into all truth.-j- Part of the truth 
we perceive, and part we teach : the rest will the 
Spirit of truth, in his own time, give to them that 
ask it. May he therefore give to both of us to 
receive and to communicate the truth !" 

Thus far the distinguished Junius : in the drift 
of whose very learned reply, however, when more 
thoroughly examined, Arminius could by no means 
acquiesce. His conviction was, that this very 
acute divine, partly by giving a common aspect to 
the object of predestination, (which is almost 
incomprehensible,) and partly by straining the 
language of authors, wished, on this subject, to 
compound one opinion out of many, contrary to 
the mind of those by whom these opinions were 
severally maintained.^ Hence, after careful peru- 
sal of the documents, Arminius had resolved to 



* The original has "omnes quasrunt," a typographical mistake for 
1 omnem violent." Comp. Collatio in Arm. Oper. p. 459. — Tr. 
f 1 Cor. xiii. 9: John xvi. 13. 
% Ex Epist. declic. collationi huic praefixa. 



110 THE LIFE OF 

bring the begun correspondence to a close, and 
to impose silence on himself for the time being ; 
but he learned, shortly after, that his epistolary 
discussion had been communicated, by Junius 
himself, to one who boarded in his house, and in 
whom he reposed too much confidence ; that this 
individual had transcribed it ; and that, in conse- 
quence, it had taken wing, and got into circulation 
among the students, so much so, that his colleague 
Plancius twitted him with sufficient bitterness, as 
having got his mouth effectually stopped by the 
reply of Junius. In these circumstances, he 
deemed it his duty to ply the web of that corre- 
spondence to the end. Roused, accordingly, by 
the occasion, and trusting to the courtesy of 
Junius himself, he drew up new and succinct 
considerations on his reply, under the barbarous 
name of Replicoe. At the conclusion of this 
piece, and by way of postscript, he declared "that 
he had submitted these considerations to the 
eminent Junius, not so much from a desire to 
confute him, as to elicit from him more extended 
explanations, with a view to obtain satisfaction on 
the point in question, and get his mind set at 
rest." He added, "that if he had written any 
thing contrary to the truth, his prayer was, that 
God would forgive him, and point out to him the 
truth ; but if, on the other hand, he had advanced 



JAMES ARMINIUS. Ill 

auglit that was agreeable to the truth, his prayer 
was, that God would confirm him in it, and incline 
Junius to embrace it, that through him greater 
authority might thereby be daily conceded to the 
truth, and that it might be propagated more and 
more." To . these considerations of Arminius, 
however, (which, at a period long subsequent, 
after the death of Junius, were enlarged by their 
author,) Junius never replied ; and (for what rea- 
son is not known) he retained them in his posses- 
sion for an entire period of six years, even to the 
last day of his life.* 

* Gerard Brandt, the father of our biographer, leaves his readers 
to account for the silence of Junius, either on the ground that it 
might have done harm to have stirred the question further in such 
times, or "that he found himself pressed too home, and, as the 
friends of Arminius think, knew not what to say to some of the 
points of his reply." — Hist, of Reform, in Low Countries, vol. ii. p. 
20.— Te. 



112 THELIPEOF 



CHAPTER IV. 

INTENSE ARDOR OP ARMINIUS IN INVESTIGATING DIVINE 
TRUTH, WITH CONNECTED INCIDENTS ; AND HIS DEVOTED 
AND BENEVOLENT PASTORAL LABORS AT THE TIME OP 
THE PLAGUE. — A. D. 1597-1602. 

Notwithstanding the silence of Junius, the sub- 
ject of our memoir abated nothing of his zeal to 
find out the truth, being prepared to grasp it with 
both hands, by whomsoever it might be shown to 
him. In this spirit, he sought the assistance of 
no one more than that most eloquent minister of 
the Church at the Hague, J. Uitenbogaert, whose 
refined and cultivated judgment he held in such 
esteem, as to think that scarcely any one could 
pronounce with more accuracy and decision on 
controversies of this kind.* It was this high 
estimate, moreover, which led him to submit those 
considerations on the papers of Junius, of which 
we have just made mention, to the judgment of 

* Vid. Arm: ad Uitenb. Epist. 19 Octob., 1597. 



JAMES AEMIXITJS. 113 

this friend alone, some little time before they were 
dispatched to Junius himself. We think it well 
here to transcribe his own words, as worthy of 
record, whi.»i he addressed to Uitenbogaert, at 
the same conjuncture, in a letter dated October 
19, 1597: "Care ought to be taken," says he, 
"to search out arguments for a known truth which 
shall be at once solid and plain, in order that such 
truth may gain the assent of those who, with 
sincerity of heart, and from a dictate of con- 
science, controvert it ; among whom I enroll my 
name as one, if in any respect I do err from the 
truth. But I cannot sufficiently marvel at the 
presumptuous boldness of some men, who brand 
whatever suits not their own palate with the 
ignominious mark of heresy, seeing they are un- 
willing to bestow almost any pains in acquainting 
themselves with controversies, and, if ever so 
willing, are not competent, inasmuch as they are 
destitute of the erudition necessary to determine 
matters of such vast moment. Truth, even theo- 
logical truth, so far as concerns the accurate 
knowledge of controversies of this sort, has been 
sunk in a deep well, whence it cannot be drawn 
forth without much effort. So true is this as 
respects that point with which we are now occu- 
pied, that the man who should question the justice 
of the remark would, by this very fact, declare 



114 THE LIFE OP 

that he had never bent his own mind to the 
serious consideration of the subject. that the 
God of truth may grant me it ere long, that my 
mind may be set at rest ! Then, indeed, shall I 
exceedingly rejoice as one who had discovered a 
precious treasure; while to all those who had 
contributed any measure of assistance, I should 
acknowledge myself bound by many and deep 
obligations." 

To this same divine, and preeminently esteemed 
friend, Arminius, with the view of striking further 
light into these controversies, transmitted, in the 
year following, (1598,) a sort of theological table 
on the subject of predestination, in which were 
exhibited, as in a mirror, every thing relating to 
that question which stood out to his view as 
worthy of discussion.* Nor did he deem it duti- 
ful to stop short at this stage, but shortly after 
wished further to try whether the help of foreign- 
ers would avail to extricate him from those diffi- 
culties that distressed his mind. Accordingly, after 
the publication, about this time, of a work of 
William Perkins, a very celebrated divine in the 
University of Cambridge, entitled, "A Christian 
and Perspicuous Discussion concerning the Mode 
and Order of Predestination, and concerning the 

* Vid. hanc Tabul. inter. Epist. Eccles. Ep. 26, p. 41. 



JAMES ABMINIUS. 115 

Extent of Divine Grace," — the name of this 
author having been previously well known to him, 
through other publications of distinguished merit, 
he resolved to procure the treatise without delay, 
and give it a careful perusal. He did so; but 
finding himself sticking as fast as ever in the same 
labyrinths of doubt, he thought it might not be 
unadvisable to institute a friendly correspondence 
with this theologian on the subject of his treatise. 
Wherefore, prompted by the occasion, he applied 
his mind to the composition of that most elaborate 
and temperate " Examination" of this same Trea- 
tise of Perkins, which, without doubt, would have 
been sent to him, but for the circumstance, that 
almost at the very time when he was already in 
the act of applying a finishing -hand to it, the 
intelligence reached him that this distinguished 
divine of the Anglican Church and University had 
exchanged the present life for another and a bet- 
ter.* From that moment, he kept this very pol- 
ished little production, along with others of the 
same stamp, to himself and his friends. 

About the same time, too, and with the utmost 
alacrity, he set himself to construct a kind of 
"Synopsis of Theological Commonplaces," with 
the sole view of becoming richer and more prac- 

* Ex Epist. dedic. huic Arminii libello prgemissa. 



116 THE LIFE OP 

ticed in that heavenly wisdom which everywhere 
presents itself for our understanding in the Sa- 
cred Scriptures, and to the investigation of which 
he was impelled by an inextinguishable ardor. 
With this view, in the course of the year 1599, 
he resolved to peruse carefully whatever authors 
might be at hand, or within his power to consult 
— at once the ancient and the more recent theo- 
logians ; to weigh accurately the several topics ; 
to observe every thing worthy of note, and to 
enter each under its appropriate division ; and to 
subject to strict criticism whatever might merit 
any measure of animadversion. What he accom- 
plished, and what kind of progress he made in this 
undertaking, (the remains of which, and a certain 
fragment only, it has been permitted us to see,) may 
be gathered from several letters of his to Uiten- 
bogaert, which will be found inserted among the 
" Epistles of Distinguished and Learned Men."* 

Moreover, during this year, he certainly evinced, 
in a very conspicuous manner, his signal affection 
and kindness for the celebrated J. Drusius, who 
professed Hebrew Literature, at Franeker, with 
distinguished renown. For, entertaining the opin- 
ion, and freely expressing it to others, that this 
man was destined to promote Hebrew Literature, 

* Epist. Prsest. Vir. p. 98, 99, etc. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 117 

and illuminate the genuine interpretation of the 
Old Testament from the Hebrew sources them- 
selves, Arminius left no means untried by which 
the Church of Christ might obtain from his labors 
that benefit which was meet. There happened, 
about that time, to be much talk of a new trans- 
lation of the Sacred Books into the vernacular 
tongue, the charge of preparing which had, five 
years previously, been committed by the honor- 
able States to Philip van Marnix, Lord of St. 
Aldegonde; but he having been removed by death, 
nothing occasioned more solicitude to the deputies 
of the churches of North and South Holland, 
than that this very grave undertaking, commenced 
under propitious omens by St. Aldegonde, should 
either be carried on to its completion, or by some 
other arrangement begun anew. As, moreover, 
these deputies seemed resolved to agitate the 
matter with the States on the first opportunity, 
the subject of our memoir left no stone unturned 
to get those who presided at the helm of the 
Republic to have regard to Drusius first of all, 
and to his judgment on the matter. He felt that 
he had reasons the most satisfactory for commend- 
ing him above all others,* both on account of his 
known and approved skill, for many years back, in 

* Vid. Arm. Epist. ad Uitenb. 8 Sept., 1599. 



118 THE LIFE OP 

the Oriental languages, and also because St. Alde- 
gonde himself, at the very time when many were 
requesting him to undertake the task, had urged 
the churches rather to turn their eyes and their 
thoughts toward Drusius.* The recommendation 
of Arminius, however, as also of Uitenbogaert, 
availed nothing, owing to the sinister judgments 
of certain leaders in the Church respecting that 
celebrated divine, and his soundness in the faith. 
For, suspecting that he cherished I know not what 
monster in his breast, and that he allowed his 
mind too much license in explaining certain pas- 
sages of Scripture, (a decree having previously 
passed the Synod of South Holland, which cir- 
cumscribed within very narrow limits whoever 
should be appointed to superintend the version 
of the Sacred Book,) the ministers referred to 
excluded Drusius not only from the task of trans- 
lation itself, but even from the province of inspect- 
ing the translation. To avoid the appearance, 
however, of setting at naught the labors of this 
distinguished man, the States-General, in the year j 
following, commissioned him to write a Commen- 
tary, or Notes, on the more difficult passages of 
the Old Testament, duly comparing and examining, 
on every such text, the Chaldee, Greek, and Latin I 

* Vid. Epist. Aldegondii ad Drusium 17 Jim. 1594. Vitse Drusiij 
insertam. 



JAMES AEMINIUS. 119 

interpreters ; and, by way of remuneration, they 
stipulated to pay him, for a series of years, an 
annual salary of four hundred florins.* 

In the mean time, Arminius, while watching to 
the very utmost of his ability over the interests 
of others, whose labors he deemed most essential 
for reducing ecclesiastical affairs to a better condi- 
tion, was himself obliged to put up with many 
calumnies and injurious judgments in regard to 
his own aims. In what spirit he contemplated 
ecclesiastical matters at this time, may be inferred 
from one of his familiar letters to Uitenbogaert, 
written on the first of August, in which he pours 
out, in the following expressions, a soul lacerated 
and oppressed by the evils that overspread the 
Christian community: — "How can he rejoice who, 
over and above the abounding impiety and unright- 
eousness that riots throughout the whole world, 
perceives in the very Church of Christ, in Chris- 
tianity itself, such a great diversity of sentiment 
on the subject of religion — so great a license in 
men, it matters not of what description, to vent 
any sort of opinion in opposition to the truth — so 
much confidence and vehemence in the most of 
those who are in authority with their own party, 
in imposing and obtruding on the entire Christian 

* Ex Vita Drusii. 



120 THE LIFE OP 

Church whatever seems good to themselves, as 
articles of faith necessary to salvation? Truly, 
when I think of these things, my soul melts 
within me, and is agitated and tossed on so im- 
petuous a tide of conflicting thoughts, that, unable 
to decide what part to act amid these convulsions, 
it finds relief only in exclaiming to its God, Give, 
Lord, peace to thine Israel : peace be within its 
walls, prosperity within thy palaces ! Heal the 
stripes and wounds of Joseph, that brethren and 
kindred, united by the one girdle of truth neces- 
sary for thy glory, and for the salvation of men, 
and by the one bond of steadfast love, may be 
allowed to celebrate thy praises in thine own 
house, from generation to generation." 

Almost in the same frame of mind as that in 
which he thus portrays the state of the Church, 
he, in a letter dated 8th September, 1599, takes a 
survey also of his own position, on which he 
opened his mind to the same friend, in the follow- 
ing terms :* " I am exerting myself to the utmost 
in teaching the truth already known to me, and in 
searching out what is not; yea, also, in more 
thoroughly investigating the truth which I do 
know, and in establishing and confirming it on solid 
grounds. But these things I do in silence and in 

* Ex Epist. Arm. ad Uitenb. 8 Sept. Script. 1599. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 121 

hope ; putting up, meanwhile, with the preposter- 
ous zeal and scarcely sufferable vehemence of not 
a few, till God see meet to rid me of that annoy- 
ance, or impart to them a spirit of discretion and 
prudence, to temper and moderate their zeal. It 
is on the best of grounds, as it appears to me, that 
I ascribe to them a zeal without knowledge ; for 
in nothing do I find them less engaged than in 
that which they are bound to by their office ; of 
which it constitutes a part, and indeed the princi- 
pal part, to investigate the truth. By reason of 
this, they have got possessed of an opinion and 
persuasion that they have already mastered the 
truth, so potent in the case of some of them that 
they venture, without premeditation, to give forth 
a peremptory judgment on any point, no matter 
what, even though a point the most difficult, and 
which up to that hour they had never thoroughly 
examined ; to the great disadvantage, unquestion- 
ably, of the Christian Church, and to the certain 
injury of truth." 

While, however, matters were in this state, the 
Annual Synod of the Church of South Holland, 
of which at that time he acted as president, 
imposed upon him the task of discussing and 
refuting, in a single book, all the errors of the 
Anabaptists.* Not unwillingly at first did he 

* Vid. Parentis mei G. Brantii Hist. Reform, par. ii. pag. 6. 
6 



122 THELIFEOP 

allow this province to be intrusted to him, partly 
because he was of opinion that such a work might 
be of some use to the Church, and partly also 
because he rejoiced to anticipate that by this 
decree of the Synod he would be placed beyond 
all suspicion of error, and beyond all controversy. 
But although he had scarcely entered on the first 
year of this century till he addressed himself with 
alacrity to the work assigned him — collecting from 
all quarters the writings of the Anabaptists, and 
carefully perusing them in order to expiscate more 
thoroughly their ideas and sentiments on the seve- 
ral articles of faith — various circumstances con- 
spired latterly to deter him from the undertaking. 
For the conviction gained upon him every day, 
that by most of his brethren this task* had been 
presented to him, not in a spirit of sincerity, but 
with the mind and intent to elicit from himself a 
full expression of opinion on certain controverted 
points — particularly on the doctrines of Predes- 
tination and Free Will, on which these same Ana- 
baptists had stirred controversy with the Reformed 
Church — that thence they might snatch occasion, 
in larger measure, of accusation against him; on 
which account he resolved, in the first instance, to 
prosecute the work but very coolly, and then 

* Ex Arm. Epist. ad Uitenb. 26 Jan. et 26 Maii Script. 1600. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 123 

eventually, on the ground of sundry engagements 
from different sides that distracted his attention, 
to abandon it altogether. 

In these same critical times, moreover, when, 
among the troublesome points about to be started 
at the following Synod, this, too, was proposed by 
the brethren from Haarlem — "Whether it would 
not be advisable that the ministers of the churches 
should annually renew their subscription of the 
Confession and Catechism, seeing individuals might 
be found who, though they had subscribed on 
being installed into office, nevertheless, at a subse- 
quent period, gave manifest evidence of having 
changed their mind." Against this counsel and 
deed Arminius complained, in express terms, as 
follows:* "I am amazed at the short-sighted 
minds of men, who do not see that by such 
a step they at once cast suspicion on the good 
faith of all ministers, as a class of men that must 
be compelled to constancy in the faith by dint of 
annual subscriptions, and that they also scatter 
the seeds of daily strife. Just as if it could not 
happen that he who had no scruple on entering 
upon office, and thus subscribed with a good con- 
science, should begin, in process of time, to be in 
doubt as to any article, from which he shall not 

* Ex Epist. Arm. ad Uitenb. 26 Maii 1600 Script. 



124 THE LIFE OF 

be able to disentangle himself before the recur- 
rence of the time for the renewed subscription. 
Besides, this is an affair of equal concernment to 
all churches. Moreover, what prudent man ever 
deemed it to be the wont either of the State or 
the Church to institute a search after crimes which 
have not betrayed an existence — yea, and to drag 
into open contentions those who are meditating no 
evil? Do not these things appear to be the 
foundations of a new Spanish or Tridentine In- 
quisition? I write thus, not because I shrink 
from subscription, but as what the occasion 
demands." Nay, more : in the same epistle in 
which these statements occur, he thus animad- 
verts on the attempt of certain of the churches : 
" It appears to me that many, as if apprehensive 
of being thought indifferent about ecclesiastical 
affairs, are meditating night and day whether 
they, too, might not be able to propose something 
to be discussed in the Synods. Such men need 
to be recalled to the saying of the apostle : Give 
attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine." 
How very little, indeed, he himself came short 
in this last-named duty, is manifest from the fact, 
that during the course of a period of thirteen 
years he expounded, in addition to Malachi, of 
which we have previously made mention, almost 
the whole of Mark, Jonah, and the Epistle of 



JAMES ABMINIUS. 125 

Paul to the Galatians ; and he brought to a close 
his exposition of Paul's Epistle to the Romans on 
the last day of September in the following year, 
1601.* Having dispatched this work, he pro- 
ceeded, in the commencement of the year 1602/j- 
to expound in public the Epistles to the seven 
Asiatic churches, which are contained in the sec- 
ond and third chapters of the book of Revelation. 
To what extent he distinguished himself dur- 
ing this year, as a pious and devoted pastor and 
watchman of the Church, the following narrative 
will satisfactorily show : A pestilential heat, which 
spared no class in society, raged at this time 
through all the country, and throughout the city 
of Amsterdam, the capital of Holland, and the 
emporium of the whole world. And }^et at this 
crisis, as if by a miracle, and by what he could 
not but regard as a most manifest proof of the 
special providence of God, while this plague was 
rioting through the whole town, it did not, during 
this year, seize on one of the chief magistrates, 
judges, treasurers, superintendents of orphans, 
ministers of religion, elders, deacons, almoners, 
school-rectors, or teachers. When first the deadly 
scourge began its ravages, and the aggregate of 
funerals came to be frightfully on the increase, 

* Ex Calendario Arm. f 11th January. 



126 THE LIFE OF 

his mind was agitated not a little by the thought 
of his wife and children, and of the scanty inherit- 
ance which he had it in his power to leave them. 
But still, after more careful meditation on the 
subject, and incessant prayers to God, by his 
kindness he was enabled so happily to master this 
temptation and anxiety of mind, that at a subse- 
quent period he informs his bosom-friend, Uiten- 
bogaert, in the following words, that his mind had 
got altogether rid of such cares as these, and steeled 
against the fear of death : " Thus far have I com- 
mitted myself and my life to the Divine mercy, 
waiting daily till he require it of me, and repay a 
better with usury; and this I do (I say it fearlessly, 
that you may rejoice) with a quiet, tranquil, and 
unperturbed mind. I pray — and I earnestly en- 
treat, yea, command you, to pray along with me, 
as I on my part will be ready to do the like for 
you — that the God of all consolation may pre- 
serve this mind with me to the last."* 

Fortified by this hope and confidence, (although 
his ardor in the investigation of truth, formerly 
most intense, was now rapidly cooling down,) he 
ceased not to pour out fervent supplications to 
God for the safety of the community ; to exhort 
the people to prayer and sincere emendation of 

* Ex Epist. Arm. ad Uitenb. 17 August et 1 Octob. Script. 



JAMES AEMINIUS. 127 

life ; to build up the hearts of the pious by con- 
solatory addresses, both in public and private; 
and whatever time he might redeem to himself 
from his ordinary and extraordinary duties, to 
devote it all, not so much to the acquisition of 
knowledge, as to the imbuing of his own spirit 
with solid piety. Nay, more : this vast field of 
pastoral fidelity and piety having presented itself 
to his view, so strenuously did he discharge the 
duties devolving upon him, that his name deserves 
a place among those who are entitled to be held 
up as examples for the imitation of all ministers 
of the Christian Church. To the highest and the 
lowest equally did he render the offices of human- 
ity ; nor did he ever allow himself to be deterred 
by the perils of contagion from acting his part as 
an indefatigable shepherd of souls.* 

It chanced about that time, as he passed along 
one of the poorer districts of the city, that he 
heard a certain lowly dwelling resound with the 
voice of wailing. Immediately on perceiving that 
the whole of that household had been seized with 
the plague, and were in torment arising from the 
most burning thirst, he not only gave money to 
the neighbors, who were standing by, with which 
to purchase a draught, but further, when not one 

* Ex Amicorum relatu. 



128 THE LIFE OF 

of them dared to enter that infected abode of 
poverty, he himself, heedless of every danger to 
which by this step he exposed himself and those 
dear to him, intrepidly walked in, and imparted 
refreshment, at once for the body and the soul, to 
every single member of this afflicted family.* 

The great aptitude, moreover, by which he 
succeeded in consoling the minds and imparting 
satisfaction to the troubled consciences of the 
sick, may be exemplified by the following occur- 
rence, which also happened in those days, and 
appears to us to be not unworthy of record. He 
was called, first by a woman, and then by a man, 
both laboring under a severe attack of the pesti- 
lence, both professing the Reformed doctrine, and 
both Christians of blameless and unsullied reputa- 
tion. She possessed a penetrating judgment, and 
a knowledge of divine things above the average 
of her sex. He was skilled in the same to such 
a degree, as to be judged competent to act the 
part even of a comforter to others. Neither was 
known to the other. Both began to be vehe- 
mently distressed in spirit because they did not 
distinctly feel the certainty of the remission of 
their sins, and the comforting testimony (attoquium) 
of the Holy Spirit in their own hearts, at that 

* Ex Epist. Arm. ad Uitenb. 1 Octob., 1602, Script. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 129 

time particularly, at which they deemed all this to 
be indispensable in the highest degree. She broke 
out into floods of tears ; he inwardly cherished 
his grief; and both declared " that they had truly 
endeavored, by devout meditation of the sacred 
page, to stir up these best of gifts, if perchance 
they lay buried, but hitherto without effect." 
Arminius, on hearing of these things, with a truly 
sorrowful heart, and touched with a deep commis- 
eration of both, immediately asked, "what was 
the reason why they were so grievously distressed 
on that account." They replied, (so exactly did 
the views of each correspond,) "that they thought 
that the certainty of the remission of sins, and 
the witness {testimonium) of the Holy Spirit in the 
hearts of believers, constituted that very faith by 
which a believing man is justified ; and conse- 
quently that they, being at this time destitute of 
that certainty and that witness, must also be des- 
titute of faith." Here Arminius put the question, 
"if they did not believe that Jesus of Nazareth 
was the Christ, sent into the world by the Father, 
the true and only Saviour of the world ; if they 
did not know for certain that God the Father had 
by him alone reconciled the world unto himself, 
not imputing to them their trespasses ; and that 
this same Jesus had received power from the 
Father to remit sins, however aggravated, and to 
6* 



130 THELIFEOF 

give the Spirit of adoption to those who believe 
on him — which power, too, he is in every respect 
ready to put forth, yea, and has solemnly promised 
to put forth, for the salvation of those that 
believe." On their replying that they firmly 
believed all this, Arminius rejoined, that "that was 
the faith which is counted for righteousness ; but 
that the remission of sins is the fruit of that faith, 
and that it is necessarily followed (if not in time, 
at least in the order of nature) by a sense of this 
remission in the hearts of believers, according to 
the saying of the apostle, justified by faith, we 
have peace with God ; and that we are to judge 
in the same way respecting the gift of the Holy 
Spirit, who is imparted to believers, and, wherever 
imparted, begins to operate in such ways as the 
Spirit himself knows to be best for the salvation 
of those to whom he is given." He then proved, 
by a multitude of passages, which he produced 
from the Holy Scriptures, that justifying faith, 
the remission of sins, and the sense of this remis- 
sion, are things distinguished in Scripture, and 
stand connected with each other by the relation 
of sequence ; explaining, moreover, the grounds 
and reasons why that certainty and comforting 
testimony (attoqidum) of the Spirit are not always 
felt by believers in an equal degree. To this the 
sick persons listened with deep interest; till at 



JAMES ARHINIUS. 131 

length both, sustained by patience and the most 
enlarged hope of Divine aid, in tranquillity of soul 
awaited death — which the man met, two days 
after, with the utmost fortitude. 

From this circumstance, Arminius felt himself 
in the strongest degree confirmed in his original 
opinion as to the necessity of accurately distin- 
guishing between things that are most intimately 
related to each other, lest the confounding of these 
things should occasion, to some consciences, a 
measure of anxiety and alarm which can be dis- 
pelled in no other way than by a distinction in 
harmony with the exact nature of things. 



132 THE LIFE OP 



CHAPTER V. 

ARMINIUS's CALL TO A THEOLOGICAL PROFESSORSHIP IN 
LEYDEN, AND THE ACTIVE OPPOSITION TO WHICH IT 
GAVE RISE.— A. D. 1602-1603. 

As the pestilence, already noticed, raged not 
only in Amsterdam, but also through all the other 
cities of Holland, it inflicted, in particular, a 
severe blow on the Academy of Leyclen in Hol- 
land, by extinguishing, within the space of two 
months, these illustrious lights of the Church and 
most learned men, Lucas Trelcatius, Senior, and 
Francis Junius, the former of whom expired on 
the 28th of August, and the latter on the 23d of 
October. The Academy being deprived of these 
props, and standing in need of new Atlantes, the 
wiser class were at a loss to perceive in what way 
any remedy could be applied to this recent wound. 
Arminius himself, who was deeply afflicted by an 
event so calamitous to the Academy, wherever he 
turned his eyes, could find among foreigners very 
few indeed fit to undertake such a charge, and 



JAMES AK MINI US. 133 

sustain, in point of eminence, the position of the 
dead.* From France there beamed scarcely a ray 
of hope ; for the churches of that kingdom were 
themselves provided with hardly as much as medi- 
ocrity in this department of study. If he turned 
his thoughts to Germany, it was with difficulty he 
could hit on more than one or two of any note. 
Pezelius was enfeebled by age : Grynseus, too, 
was more than sixty. Parseus was understood to 
be too much bound to the Palatinate. Of all the 
German theologians, however, the one whom Ar- 
minius judged best qualified to undertake this 
province (if indeed his age, too, might not be an 
objection) was the distinguished Piscator, as being, 
in his estimation, a learned, diligent, and clear- 
headed divine, who, by his published writings 
besides, had already encircled his name with no 
small celebrity. 

But far other, in regard to this matter, was the 
mind of the honorable curators of the Academy, 
who, deeming it not at all needful, at this conjunc- 
ture, to turn their attention to foreigners, had 
fixed their thoughts and their eyes on Arminius 
and Trelcatius, Junior. Of this favorable regard 
on the part of these distinguished men, and indeed 
of most of the students, toward Arminius, shortly 

* Ex Epist. Arm. ad Uitenb. 3 Kal. Nov. 



134 THELI1E0F 

after the death of Trelcatius, Uitenbogaert came 
to be informed through the correspondence of 
friends. He was in the camp before Grave at the 
time, which he followed in the capacity of chap- 
lain to the valiant Prince Maurice. He was first 
made cognizant of the fact by the letters of that 
distinguished youth, Hugh Grotius, and of An- 
thony Thysius, each of whom, after bearing testi- 
mony to the splendid endowments of Arminius, 
earnestly entreated Uitenbogaert that he would 
not refuse to interpose his endeavor, at this stage, 
to persuade Arminius to accept the office, should 
it be placed within his power.* Thysius, more- 
over, in his letter to this same friend on the sub- 
ject, lauds Arminius to the skies, calling him the 
light of the Lotv Countries, and a born academician. 
By and by, after Uitenbogaert had returned 
from the camp to the Hague, the honorable sena- 
tors, Cornelius Neostadius, Frankius, and R. Ho- 
gerbeets, made in his presence, at a certain party, 
new and honorable mention of the proposed call 
to Arminius.f The first of these, and along with 
him the celebrated John Dousa, Lord of Norder- 
wick, were curators of the Academy, and the rest 
had cultivated an intimacy in study with him from 
their early years. Uitenbogaert at first took no 

* Vid. Uitenb. Hist. Eccles. p. 312. f E vita Uitenbog., cap. v 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 135 

part in the conversation ; but at length, on being 
asked his opinion by this noble company of men, 
he very willingly added his suffrage to theirs. A 
few days after, Nicolas Zeistius, Syndic of Ley- 
den, intimated, in a letter addressed to the honor- 
able Neostadius, that the eyes of almost all the 
students were turned to Arminius ; and not only 
so, but that they had resolved to present, at the 
next meeting of the curators, an earnest petition 
in favor of his being invited. 

On being apprised of all this by a letter from 
Uitenbogaert, Arminius, so far from grasping at 
the situation which many were marking out for 
him, rather revolved in his mind a variety of rea- 
sons, from day to day, which were calculated to 
deter him from the idea of it altogether. For, 
over and above the ardent attachment of his flock 
to him, (which he felt under the strongest obliga- 
tion to repay with equal love,) so great was the 
regard which he had conciliated toward himself 
from the public of Amsterdam and its leading men, 
that he could promise himself henceforth to carry 
about with him a mind exempt from anxious solici- 
tude as to his worldly circumstances, and even an 
augmentation of his respectable stipend, should 
necessity demand.* Add to this, that as the city 

* Vid. Epist. Arm. ad Uitenb. 



136 THE LIFE OF 

of Amsterdam had the entire right of him, in con- 
sideration of having supported him during his 
sacred studies, it was hardly likely to surrender 
to the Leydeners its own alumnus, to the serious 
injury of the Church. 

Meanwhile this favor of the curators for Armin- 
ius gave great offence to several ministers ; and 
they left no stone unturned by which to divert 
the minds and thoughts of the former away from 
him to some foreign candidate. About this time, 
a certain deputy of the churches made up to the 
noble Neostadius, and did his utmost in disparage- 
ment of the merits of Arminius, declaring, "that 
he had discovered nothing whatever in him, ex- 
cept that he was an expert logician ; but he (the 
deputy) had yet to learn that he was so great a 
theologian as to warrant his elevation to an aca- 
demic chair." 

Much more strongly and sharply, however, was 
the proposed appointment resisted by J. Kuch- 
linus, the principal Moderator of the Theological 
College, the uncle too, and at one time the col- 
league of Arminius.* For he began very vehe- 
mently to remonstrate with Uitenbogaert on the 
subject, and to start the doubt whether "Arminius 
was not tainted with the Coornhertian heresy ;" 

* Ex Diario MS. Uitenb. 



JAMES AEMINIUS. 137 

adding, and stoutly affirming, that "his father-in- 
law, Lawrence Real, had a considerable leaning to 
the same." Some time after, in presence of the 
curators of the Academy themselves, after a long 
preface about Arminius's thirst for novelties and 
itch for disputation, he at length broke out in 
these words : "Pra} r , what shall I, an old man, 
clo ? Shall I suffer my pupils to attend the Aca- 
demy, and hear and carry away with them new 
doctrines every day ? I will not bear it : I will 
not suffer it : I will rather shut up my college." 
Yery opportunely, however, in the circumstances, 
this excited feeling was calmed down by the arri- 
val of John Hauten, a man of very great sagacity, 
who was at that time Secretary to the Academy. 
By his arguments the old man was brought to a 
stand, and forthwith began to speak in a more 
temperate tone. 

On the very day, too, on which a meeting of 
the Academy was held on the subject of invit- 
ing Arminius, the distinguished Gomarus, after 
asking permission to speak, and presenting to 
the honorable curators of the Academy the fune- 
ral oration with which he had performed the 
last honors to Junius, took occasion to intimate 
to them, that "Junius, almost at the last hour 
of his life, implored him to commend, in his name, 
the Academy and the profession of theology 



138 THE LIFE OF 

to the special care of the curators. This charge 
he now implemented ; nor could he with a good 
conscience dissemble his fear that the call of 
Arminius, for determining on which he understood 
they were assembled, would in his judgment turn 
out to the very serious injury of the Academy, in 
consequence of the heterodox opinions he enter- 
tained, and which he had made public both in his 
discourses on the seventh chapter of the Romans, 
and in those very serious disputes which he had 
with Junius on the subject of predestination." 
To these things he added, that "Junius himself 
had no favorable opinion of Arminius. In Am- 
sterdam he had it in his power to infect one church 
only ; but here he could infect many, not merely 
in this, but also in other lands. In that city there 
were many who could enter the lists with him, 
and resist his attempts ; but here there were very 
few. In the Academy there was more freedom of 
disputation than in the church, from which circum- 
stance undoubtedly the fiercest contentions would 
arise. Arminius very likely, the more easily to 
advance himself to the professorhip, may hold out 
the promise of amendment, but no faith was to be 
attached to his words ; and in a matter of such 
importance it was incumbent on them to act with 
very great caution, lest by the introduction of 
such a man, and of novel doctrines, some mischief 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 139 

should accrue to this very distinguished seat of 
learning."* 

The noble curators regarded as unduly harsh 
and sufficiently violent the judgment of so great 
a theologian respecting this eminent minister, who 
was held in the highest esteem by those with 
whom he was connected, and who up to that 
hour had not given the very smallest indication of 
an ambitious longing after the office. Gomarus 
accordingly was asked by these very influential 
men, " whether he really knew Arminius ; and 
whether he had perused the correspondence he 
had had with Junius." He candidly replied that 
" he only saluted him once, as he descried him at 
a little distance; and as for the discussion with 
Junius, he had not indeed read it, but still he had 
got information respecting it through certain min- 
isters most worthy of credit." On this, being 
more straitly questioned as to who the fabricators 
of those charges were, he at length named Plan- 
cius. 

But the chief rulers of the Academy, not dis- 
posed to attach much weight to this testimony, 
deemed it of the first importance to inquire more 
thoroughly into all those accusations by which 
Arminius was assailed. Wherefore, having first 

* Ex Diario MS. Uitenbogardi. 



140 THELIFEOP 

called into their counsel John Oldenbarneveldt, 
the Prime Minister of the States of Holland, they 
deemed it proper to consult Uitenbogaert concern- 
ing all these matters, and what was best to be 
done for the interests of the Academy. He, after 
a brief pause of deliberation, began forthwith to 
complain of the injury which Gomarus and Kuch- 
linus had inflicted on Arminius. Then, after 
giving an account of the controversy which hap- 
pened at Amsterdam some considerable time pre- 
viously, on the occasion of Arminius expounding 
the seventh chapter of the Romans, and after 
reading the opening and concluding portions of 
his discussion with Junius, he showed very plainly 
that what Gomarus had called "serious disputes" 
had rather been the interchange of friendly cor- 
respondence. Junius, besides, had cultivated a 
genuine friendship with Arminius ; yea, and sub- 
sequently to that correspondence he had often 
prefaced any reference he made to him with 
expressions of praise. As Gomarus, however, 
was pushing this business with so much ani- 
mosity, and that doubtless at the instigation of 
others whose authority was very influential in 
sacred matters, it appeared to him to be advisable 
that the call should be decided in favor of another, 
rather than that of Arminius. As to the willing- 
ness of Arminius to undertake this professorship, 



JAMES AEMINIUS. 141 

it was in the highest degree doubtful ; and much 
more uncertain was it, besides, whether, in the 
event of his assenting to the call, the people of 
Amsterdam would grant him a dismission. He 
looked upon this movement as one full of hazard 
and difficulty ; and so much the more difficult, as 
he had heard that Gomarus was actuated by a 
very strong prejudice against Arminius, and bent 
all his energies to this : that whatever the latter 
might advance in defence of his reputation and his 
faith, he would at once proceed to invalidate and 
subvert. He (Uitenbogaert) was not willing to 
take upon himself a business of such magnitude, 
or that this cause should be determined by his 
judgment alone. So far from this, although, 
according to the dictate of conscience, he had 
advanced what made for the commendation of 
Arminius, and was fully confident that Arminius 
would never do aught that was unworthy of him- 
self or the Academy, he nevertheless committed 
this whole affair to the consideration and decision 
of the honorable curators. If, however, they 
adhered to their purpose to invite this theologian, 
he thought it would be in the highest degree 
advisable that Arminius should be made aware 
of all the things which had been said and clone 
against him, in order that after hearing his reply 
they might be the better able to consult for their 



142 THE LIFE OF 

own concerns, and for the welfare of the Aca- 
demy.* Thus spake Uitenbogaert in the pre- 
sence of the curators. On the same day he de- 
clared to the most noble Oldenbarneveldt, a man 
who held the place of the highest dignity in the 
Republic of Holland, that "Arminius, yea, even a 
hundred Arminiuses, did not bulk so largely in his 
estimation that, for the sake of promoting him, he 
could be willing to have the Church and the 
Academy disturbed." 

Some time after, by order of the curators, he 
faithfully divulged every thing, as far as mat- 
ters had gone, to Arminius, who had been sum- 
moned by letter to Haarlem; and he earnestly 
besought him, seeing the matter concerned not 
him only, but also the entire Church besides, that 
he would not hesitate to declare his own mind on 
the subject candidly, freely, and without any 
reserve."|* On receiving this information, which 
astonished him mightily, Arminius related the 
particulars of all the controversies which had ever 
been stirred against him on the ground of doctrine, 
and what plan he had invariably adopted in order 
to get them allayed. From this the conversation 
passed to the subject of the professorship, and of 

* Ex Diario Uitenb. MS. — Vld. et Vitani Uitenb. Belg. Idiom, ab 
ipso conscript, cap. v. 

f Ex Diario MS. Uitenbog. 



JAMES AEMINIUS. 143 

the very high esteem in which he was held by the 
rulers of the Academy. By and by, also, accord- 
ing to the charge devolved upon him by these 
rulers, Uitenbogaert proceeded to ask him what 
might be his own mind and judgment as to under- 
taking the office. Arminius replied, that " many 
reasons presented themselves, on the ground of 
which he could prefer to remain at Amsterdam. 
He owned, indeed, that he was rather prone to an 
academic mode of expressing himself, nor was he 
altogether destitute of freedom in composition and 
in promoting the public good by his pen ; but still 
he was wanting in many endowments of mind and 
genius that were necessary to the proper discharge 
of this function. Moreover, as he had by no 
means the right, he would decide nothing what- 
ever, either on the one side or on the other, till 
the church and civil authorities of Amsterdam 
had granted him full liberty of choice. This done, 
he would consider what might be for the advan- 
tage of the Academy, as well as for his own. At 
all events, he would never consent to give his ser- 
vices to the noble curators until he had first 
obtained a friendly conference with the distin- 
guished Gomarus, and disabused his mind of all 
the doubts which he had conceived respecting him. 
He was aware how much ought to be sacrificed 
for the peace of the Academy, and how impera- 



144 THE LIFE OP 

tively necessary it was to apply the promptest 
remedy possible to the ecclesiastical dissensions 
so much to be deplored, rather than to contribute 
fresh material for their increase. Never for the 
sake of any dogma would he furnish occasion, 
even the least, to violate the peace of the Church; 
and in this same mind he put a fair and charitable 
construction on every thing which the learned 
Goinarus had done, at the instigation, doubtless, 
of others, rather than of his own accord." 

This reply Uitenbogaert reported to the honor- 
able curators of the Academy. After maturely 
considering and weighing the fact that divines of 
the Reformed Church had not always cherished 
the same opinion on the subject of Predestination, 
and that no synod of the Primitive Church had 
ever determined any thing respecting it — yea, 
further, that the celebrated J. Holmann had 
stoutly defended, in the Leyden Academy, the 
same opinion which Hemmingius had maintained 
on that question — the curators judged that there 
was no call for further deliberation on the subject 
of inviting Arminius. On the contrary, they 
instantly decided on doing so ; and in order to 
obtain their wish, C. Neostadius and N. Zeistius, 
men of great influence, undertook a journey to 
Amsterdam, which, however, failed of its end; 
for the noble rulers of this city (on the 19 th 



JAMES A KM IN I US. 145 

November) not only decided that they could not 
dispense with his services, but would not permit 
them to treat with the ecclesiastical court on the 
matter. 

On learning this, the deputies of the churches * 
exerted themselves to the utmost to interpose 
delay, and even obstruction, in the way of this 
call. At an extraordinary meeting, accordingly, 
held at the Hague, they judged it expedient to 
invite certain pastors to that place — Uitenbogaert 
being summoned among the rest. After prayer, 
the president of this conference, Arnold Cornelis, 
immediately submitted whether it would not be 
for the interest of the Church seriously and 
gravely to warn the noble Oldenbarneveldt, and 
the curators of the Academy as well, of the dan- 
gers which impended over the Church and the 
Academy, in the event of calling a man so deeply 
suspected of erroneous opinions ; and to entreat 
them rather to think of calling some other, who 
might be fit to undertake the office, and at the 
same time be clear of suspicion of this kind. 

Uitenbogaert being asked among the first to 

* These were functionaries appointed by the Dutch Synods, (re- 
sembling the Commission of the General Assembly in Scotland,) on 
■whom devolved a certain current and ill-defined care of the churches, 
and who figure much in the ecclesiastical embroilments of that period. 
They were often officious; and hence Grotius calls them " Ruling 
Masters." — Te. 



146 THE LIFE OF 

express his mind as to this counsel, declared that 
he would be no party to any such thing.* After 
many preliminary remarks as to the danger into 
which those who urged such a decision would pre- 
cipitate themselves in the event of not being able 
to prove the charges preferred against Arminius, 
he proceeded to explain more at length all that he 
himself knew of the matter, and showed that 
the opposition to the clergyman in question was 
grounded on suspicions rather than on reasons. 

On this, after here repeating ad nauseam the 
allegation as to his very serious disputes with 
Junius, and the long-settled affair about the inter- 
pretation of the seventh chapter of Romans, the 
president of the conference openly declared, that 
"Arminius was no theologian, but a young man, 
destitute of experience, and prone to quarrels and 
petty disputations." In opposition to this, Uiten- 
bogaert rejoined, that "this same Arminius sus- 
tained the character of a distinguished divine; 
and to how great an extent he was skilled in 
sacred things could not be altogether unknown to 
his present accuser, inasmuch as when, on a pre- 
vious occasion, Arminius requested a friendly con- 
ference with him on the subject of religion, he 
heartily shrank from it. The frivolous objections 

* Ex Diario MS. Uitenb. Vid et Uitenb. Vitam ab ipso conscript, 
vernaculo idiom, cap. v. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 147 

as to his youth were also applicable to Gomarus 
himself; preeminently so, at all events, to Trelca- 
tius, Junior, concerning both of whom, however, 
in this connection, there was a profound silence. 
Arminius was of full age, and possessed of a 
judgment thoroughly cultivated and matured. 
The professorial function was theoretical rather 
ihan practical, and experience was not required in 
universities to the same extent as in churches; 
still it was not to be thought that he could be 
devoid of experience, who had for so many years, 
and with so much applause, sustained the charge 
of by far the most influential of the churches. 
Besides, that he was party to discussions occa- 
sionally about sacred things was proof not of a 
contentious, but of a subtile mind, and gave indi- 
cation that he was born for academic rather than 
for pastoral functions." 

On this, one objected, that "still Arminius dif- 
fered, if not in substantiate, at least in accidentals; 
[here and elsewhere, in narrating the discussions 
of divines, we must be allowed to speak in theo- 
logical rather than in chaste and classical Latin ;*] 
and while this perchance might be connived at in 
the Church, in the Academy it certainly could not 

* This, it is scarcely needful to remark, is an apology interposed 
by our author, for deviating occasionally from his excellent Latinity 
into unavoidable scholasticisms. — Tr. 



148 THE LIFE OF 

be borne with." Uitenbogaert rejoined, that " the 
liberty of plying controversies which did not sub- 
vert the foundations of the faith, ought by no means 
to be banished from academic institutions. Never 
had these, any more than the churches, been so 
well constituted but that at all times some differ- 
ences, and these occasionally very serious, had 
existed in reference to sacred things, and yet the 
peace of the Church had been preserved inviolate ; 
yea, between that very divine, Junius, and his 
colleague, Sohnius, at Heidelberg, and between 
Gomarus and Junius at Leyden-in-Holland, there 
had not, on all points, been a perfect agreement. 
The same principle applied to the case in hand. 
Arminius was desirous of peace, nor was any strife 
to be apprehended from him, although in some 
things he might differ from others in opinion." 

After he had thus spoken, some member of the 
conference vociferated, that " every thing, even 
what seemed safe things, furnished matter for just 
suspicion ;" to which the very eloquent pastor of 
the church in the Hague further and spiritedly 
replied, that "a statement of this description was 
diametrically opposed to Christian charity; and 
that it was much rather to be desired that all the 
ministers of the Church would more frequently 
recall to memory that saying of Paul, Charity 
thinJceth no evil." After he had uttered these 



JAMES AEMINIUS. 149 

words, and followed up his remarks with a very 
grave admonition that the brethren would act cir- 
cumspectly throughout this business, and attempt 
nothing of which they might subsequently repent, 
Uitenbogaert asked leave of departure, and with- 
drew. 

But they, not deeming it of any consequence to 
attend to this warning, straightway divulged the 
same doubts respecting Arminius which they had 
brought out in that conference, to the Grand Pen- 
sionary of the States of Holland, as well as the 
curators of the Academy ; commending the Aca- 
demy to their care, and adding the request that 
they would see to it that the peace of the institu- 
tion be not disturbed. They replied in general 
terms, that " they would take care of that mat- 
ter."* 

But the curators, suspecting on good grounds 
that certain parties were pushing this business 
with far too great animosity, and that under it 
there lurked much envy against Arminius — nay, 
further, that if by this pretext of heterodoxy he 
should be driven from the professorship, his public 
usefulness also would be very apt to be sacrificed 
in that church to the ministry of which he had 
devoted himself — were of opinion that it was their 

* Ex Diario MS. Uitenb. 



150 THE LIFE OF 

duty still to prosecute the call. More than that, 
Arminius having taken a journey to the Hague at 
this conjuncture, (January 21, 1603,) to dispatch 
some ecclesiastical business in name of the Am- 
sterdam Classis, they called him into their pre- 
sence, informed him of their determination, and 
begged that he would not scruple to give them the 
hope and pledge that he would accept the office 
of professor ; and that they would take steps, and 
strive with all their weight, to induce the magis- 
trates and church of Amsterdam to give in like 
manner their consent to the arrangement. This, 
however, Arminius modestly declined, giving the 
same reply that he had previously given to Uiten- 
bogaert, and to the other delegates of the aca- 
demic council. 

Shortly after, having returned home, and ob- 
tained an opportunity of holding a familiar inter- 
view with that minister of Delft (Arnold Cornells) 
who had presided at the above-mentioned confer- 
ence held at the Hague, and who was spending 
some days in Amsterdam, he began (January 27) 
to deal with him freely — partly complaining of 
the injurious judgment of certain individuals, and 
partly clearing and defending himself. He added, 
that " that method of acting did not appear to him 
to be sufficiently Christian, and that another ought 
to be adopted, of a more positive sort, and more in 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 151 

accordance with Christian candor.""" Still further, 
referring to that conference, and to the steps 
which, thus far, the deputies of the churches had 
taken against him, Arminius observed :*j* " It seems 
evident to me, that all their deliberations and acts 
have proceeded from a certain groundless fear, 
induced by the calumnious reports respecting me 
of certain individuals whom I have declared my- 
self easily able to confute with the actual truth, 
if opportunity and place were only granted me for 
defending myself." 

But a suspicion once entertained of the hetero- 
doxy of Arminius had fixed its roots too deeply 
in the minds of those intrusted with the welfare 
of the churches, (viz., the deputies,) to allow 
themselves to be deterred from their undertaking 
by any arguments of his. Wherefore, taking into 
consideration the proceedings up to that point of 
the curators of the Academy, these ecclesiastical 
deputies set out for the Hague toward the end of 
February; and in the presence of Oldenbarneveldt 
renewed the same complaint that they had for- 
merly lodged as to the dangers to which the Aca- 
demy would be exposed by this call of Arminius, 



* Ex Epist. Arm. inedita Script, ad Uitenb. 28 Jan., 1603. 

f Namely, to Uitenbogaert, in the letter referred to in the preceding 
note, giving an account of his interview -with Cornelis the day before, 
and containing the expressions quoted in the previous sentence. — Tr. 



152 THE LIFE OP 

following it up with the request that he would not 
refuse to exert his influence with these same cura- 
tors in order to impede its progress. The grounds 
on which they contended were the same as before, 
with the addition of this other, by the colleague 
of Arminius, Werner Helmichius : namely, that 
only very lately Arminius had taught in public 
that " God had not yet sent a bill of divorcement 
to the Church of Rome."* These words Arminius 
had used in the course of expounding the second 
chapter of Revelation, and thence some of his 
enemies . had snatched a handle for the suspicion 
that he had an undue leaning toward that very 
impure Church, and had undertaken its defence. 

But it escaped Helmichius, and even the most 
honorable the Grand Pensionary of Holland, to 
whom at first sight such a saying appeared absurd, 
that F. Junius, besides often and openly maintain- 
ing the same opinion in his public prelections and 
disputations, had given that exposition almost in 
the self-same words, in a certain excellent treatise 
On the Church. On this account, Uitenbogaert, 
the moment he was informed of the accusation 
referred to, handed in that treatise to this most 
eminent man for his perusal; and added that many 
besides Junius, and these too of no mean name 

* Vide Vitam Uitenb., cap. v. Trigland. Hist. Eccles. 



JAMES AKMINIUS. 153 

among Reformed divines, had expressly main- 
tained the same thing ; not with the view of pa- 
tronizing that meretricious Church, but rather to 
set forth the benignity of the supreme and ever- 
blessed God, who, inasmuch as certain traces of 
Christianity still remained in that Church, was 
even yet urging it to repentance. 

This act of Helmichius, moreover, was regarded 
by the patrons of Arminius as any thing but hand- 
some ; for they deemed it most iniquitous that this 
eminent clergyman had not only ventured, in the 
presence of a man of such great authority, to 
defame an absent colleague, and that too without 
ever having communicated with him on the mat- 
ter, but also that he should demand of that same 
high personage to keep secret what he had alleged 
against Arminius, and not to apprise him of the 
matter at all.* They took the deed the more 
amiss, and could less easily brook it, from the fact, 
which they knew to be certain and undoubted, 
that it was mainly in consequence of the recom- 
mendation of Arminius that this Helmichius had 
been called to the ecclesiastical office. 

How unworthy this conduct was of so conspicu- 
ous a herald of Divine truth Uitenbogaert plainly 
showed, a few days after, to this Amsterdam 



* Ex Diario MS. Uitenb. 

7* 



154 THELIFEOF 

minister himself, entering at some length into con- 
versation with him on that occasion respecting 
Arminius and the professorship which had been 
determined in his favor.* Uitenbogaert expressed 
his astonishment that the delegates of the churches 
should rear their attempts against Arminius on a 
foundation so slender. Helmichius, on the other 
hand, alleged that it was evident to the churches 
that there existed the weightiest reasons why they 
should resist this call. Uitenbogaert complained 
of the injury done by the clandestine slanders of 
brethren ; declared that the care of the deputies 
was unduly officious ; that by these attempts they 
would contribute nothing to the advantage of the 
Church, but rather impair, by this mode of pro- 
cedure, their own influence with the States, and 
that this had already more than once been proved 
by experience. Helmichius owned that many 
things indeed were falsely imputed to Arminius ; 
but that, notwithstanding, he very clearly and 
openly evinced that he by no means acquiesced in 
the opinion of the great Calvin on Predestination, 
and that this circumstance was fraught with im- 
minent danger to the Academy. Uitenbogaert 
owned that that opinion labored under serious 
difficulties, which he himself was not able to 

* Ex Diario MS. Uitenb. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 155 

extenuate or remove ; but from this there was no 
ground to apprehend dissension, provided Armin- 
ius, while temperately maintaining a milder view 
of that question, accepted in a fair and liberal 
spirit the modest defence which Gomarus and 
others might put forth for their opinion. Here 
Helmichius affirmed that the doctrine of an abso- 
lute decree of reprobation had been received by 
the Reformed Church ; and that those who were 
of a different sentiment might be tolerated in the 
Church, provided they imposed silence on them- 
selves and abstained from running that doctrine 
down. Uitenbogaert replied, that he for his part 
was one who could not assent to that opinion, 
which, in fact, ought by no means to be attributed 
to the entire Church of the Reformed, but only to 
certain particular divines. Nay, it was those 
rather who rejected that horrible decree (as Calvin 
himself calls it, in express terms, when treating 
of Reprobation) that ought to be asked to bear 
patiently with its patrons and defenders. Further, 
on Helmichius asserting somewhat warmly that 
there were certain parties in Amsterdam who 
were prepared to establish against Arminius more 
charges still, and of greater weight, should this 
academic invitation be further pressed, Uitenbo- 
gaert rejoined, that "insinuations of this kind 
were made in manifest contravention of the law 



156 THE LIFE OF 

of charity, yea, and of truth. He perceived that 
a tyranny altogether new, and which he would by 
no means submit to, had been introduced into the 
Reformed Church. Individuals there were who 
spoke of that Church none otherwise than if it 
were exempt from all liability to error, and stood 
in need of no further reform. Hence, no one dis- 
senting, even in how trivial soever a degree, was 
to be tolerated ; and the blot of heresy was to be 
forthwith daubed upon those who owned as much 
as a slight difference, or even doubt, in respect to 
any article of faith and doctrine. As an effusion 
from this bitter fountain, a certain minister had 
ventured to call Arminius a heretic. In this way 
all liberty of friendly conference on points of 
Christian doctrine was precluded ; and from this 
it was to be feared still greater troubles would 
arise." 

This conversation was scarcely ended when the 
celebrated Gomarus also came to the Hague, and 
had a lengthened interview with Uitenbogaert on 
the same affair. On this occasion Gomarus, with 
a mind thoroughly excited, (as far as it might be 
allowed to conjecture from his countenance,) began 
to rate him for his commendation of Arminius, 
whom he styled a man of impure doctrine; adding, 
that he (Uitenbogaert) had rashly mixed himself 
up with academic affairs. This commendatory 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 157 

act Uitenbogaert vindicated on a multitude of 
grounds, and strove with all his might to wipe 
away the injurious aspersions from his absent 
friend ; when immediately Gomarus, producing 
the reply of Arminius to the communication of 
Junius, (which a few days previously, he stated, 
had been handed to him by Casimir, the son of 
Francis Junius,) declared that he would prove 
directly that Arminius maintained not only im- 
pure, but even impious doctrine.* To substantiate 
this allegation, he instantly quoted, from the very 
autograph of Arminius, the following statement : 
that " by no Divine decree is the human will deter- 
mined either to the one side or the other ;" add- 
ing, " That is an impious sentiment !" To this 
Uitenbogaert replied, that " it was not impious to 
say that God did not determine those things which 
he himself was unwilling to determine. Arminius 
would render a just reason for that saying. Nay, 
more : the very celebrated Junius had said nearly 
the same thing in his treatise i On the first Sin of 
Adam.'" 

Quitting this subject, Gomarus turned the con- 
versation into another channel, alleging that the 
opinion of Arminius on the seventh chapter of 
Romans was manifestly at variance with the doc- 

* Ex Diario MS. Uitenb. 



158 THELIFEOP 

trine of the churches. Here Uitenbogaert put 
the question, on which article it was of the Con- 
fession and Catechism that the above-named inter- 
pretation impinged? Gomarus replied, that the 
doctrine of the churches was to be determined 
not only by these received formularies, but to a 
very great extent from the consent of the pastors. 
But to this Uitenbogaert rejoined, that a saying 
of this description savored of Popery; and that 
he knew no other consent of the churches in doc- 
trine but that which is contained in the express 
words of the Confession. 

On this, Gomarus made reference to the subject 
of Predestination, and acknowledged that that 
decree might be modestly discussed, and Arminius 
borne with, provided he would deport himself with 
moderation. Then Uitenbogaert, at length seizing 
this opportunity, gravely and courteously admon- 
ished this divine "not to give way to his own 
feelings more than was meet, and allow himself to 
be carried away by the perverse judgments of 
others respecting Arminius ;" adding, " that 'Ar- 
minius never would undertake this office without, 
in the first instance, holding a friendly conference 
with him in reference to these and other difficul- 
ties. Nothing did Arminius desire more than to 
cultivate a fraternal friendship with him ; and his 
resolution was rather to keep aloof from that 



JAMES AEMINIUS. 159 

office for ever than furnish occasion, even the 
least, for ecclesiastical strifes. Of strifes there 
were enough everywhere. Peace ought to he 
studied; nor did he douht hut that Arminius 
would give him the most ample satisfaction." On 
this Gomarus calmly and candidly rejoined, "that 
this was what he preeminently desired ; that then 
Arminius would he to him a most acceptable col- 
league; and that he would tolerate all things 
which could be borne with consistently with the 
maintenance of peace and with integrity of con- 



160 THELIPEOF 



CHAPTER VI. 

FURTHER PROSECUTION AND SUCCESSFUL ISSUE OF ARMIN- 
IUS'S CALL TO THE PROFESSORSHIP. — A. D. 1603. 

Arminius meanwhile, not unaware of those 
things which were in agitation against him, strove 
to bend all his plans to this one aim, that of find- 
ing out a way in which he might defend himself 
against the criminations of his adversaries, and 
disarm them of their power. In particular, feel- 
ing keenly that he had been covered with stigmas 
in the hearing of Barneveldt, it appeared to him 
in the highest degree desirable that he should 
maintain the stainlessness of his reputation in the 
presence of that most exalted man; and that 
before presenting himself at the Hague he should 
intimate his purpose to the honorable magistrates, 
and, in addition to them, to Helmichius himself, 
and others who had branded so black a stigma on 
his name. 

He was prevented, however, from carrying into 
effect this purpose and journey by the adverse 



JAMES AE JUNIUS. 161 

state of his health, having been seized with a 
catarrh contracted by cold, which violently affected 
his brain and adjacent parts. He informed Uiten- 
bogaert of his circumstances, and, moreover, dis- 
closed to him the state of his mind and his wish, 
in the following words :* " Would that this might 
be obtained from the most noble Barneveldt, 
namely, that they should receive orders to pro- 
ceed against me before him, I being present. This 
verily I aim at and desire far more ardently than 
that which they think I desire — I mean the theo- 
logical professorship. But I thoroughly persuade 
myself (and thus, surely, it ought to turn out) 
that those good men will not obtain credit with 
considerate persons, especially as he who is aimed 
at stands forth for his lawful defence, and is an 
elder against whom no one has a right to take up 
an accusation except under two or three witnesses. 
My opinion, therefore, is, that that journey is not 
so urgently necessary at this time, in consequence 
of the departure already of a large proportion of 
the deputies, to whom Helmichius might appeal 
were I to institute proceedings with him. Mean- 
while, there remains with me the full right of 
originating an action at law against him, and also 
against the rest who are associated with him. In 

* Epist. Eccles. Ep. 58, pag. 109, 110. 



162 THE LIFE OP 

regard to this, I shall consider, from, your advice 
and that of others, what to do. If, however, you 
deem it needful that I should open my mind to 
you in reply to a few queries, you may transmit 
them in writing, and I will answer you with the 
utmost plainness and sincerity ; for I am unwilling 
either to commit or to omit any thing that might 
tend either to promote or to impede my call ; inas- 
much as I have resolved to commit myself wholly 
to the will of God, that I may be able to main- 
tain a good conscience, whatever may be the issue 
of the affair. In the mean time, I would have 
you to be of good cheer, and moderate your grief, 
for well I know how needful is this request. The 
Lord God will provide and grant that success which 
he knows will be most conducive to his own glory 
and the edification of the Church — yea, more, and 
to the salvation of me and mine. On Him I cast 
all my care : He will bring forth my righteousness 
as the light, and my judgment as the noonday." 

During all this time, the honorable curators of 
the Academy, promising themselves better things 
of Arminius than rumor held out, had resolved to 
leave nothing untried by which they might gain 
Arminius and their wish. Nay, communicating 
their counsels to the illustrious Prince Maurice, 
they strenuously besought him to associate with 
them some one to act in his name, for the further- 



JAMES AKMINIUS. 163 

ance of this business with the people of Amster- 
dam. To this petition, the Prince- gave his gra- 
cious assent ; and forthwith summoning Uitenbo- 
gaert into his presence, (on the loth March,) he 
entreated him, in kindly terms, that he would not 
scruple to undertake this province, as being in 
great measure an ecclesiastical one, and pledged 
his faith to furnish him with credentials. Armed 
with these, he at length, along with the honorable 
J. Dousa and N. Zeistius, Syndic of Leyden, set 
out for Amsterdam on the first day of April; 
being followed, a little after, by the honorable 
Neostadius and Nicolas Cromhout, the chief sen- 
ator of the Supreme Court : this last the curators 
had called to their assistance, his influence being 
very powerful with the Senate of Amsterdam. 
To smooth for themselves an easier path to the 
attainment of their end, they judged it expedient 
to hold interviews, in the first instance, with 
several of the magistrates and ministers of the 
Church. Having on the 5th April, accordingly, 
obtained public audience of the honorable magis- 
trates, they explained, at length, their reasons for 
the journey they had undertaken, — Cromhout 
maintaining the cause of the curators, and Uiten- 
bogaert prosecuting the orders of the Prince.* 

* Ex Diario MS. Uitenb. 



164 THE LIFE OF 

They pressed their petition to obtain Arminius, 
on a variety of grounds : the rulers, on the other 
hand, set forth the merits of their pastor, and 
his useful and necessary services in refuting the 
opinions of different parties on points connected 
with religion; and declared that they could not 
dispense with the ministry of so great a man. 
These, and other arguments of the kind, the 
curators bent in their own favor, and vigorously 
retorted ; at length the rulers replied that the?/ 
would deliberate further on the matter ; and gave 
permission, besides, to treat with the ecclesiastical 
court respecting it. 

At a meeting, accordingly, convened on the 8th 
April, the delegates of the Academy submitted to 
the presbytery the same reasons for their proposal 
which they had advanced in presence of the ma- 
gistrates ; in addition to which, the better to pro- 
mote their object, they held out the hope and 
gave the pledge, that should the leading men of 
the church of Amsterdam resolve to substitute in 
the place of Arminius, after his dismission, another 
eminent pastor, yea, and even to renew their call 
to Baselius, the very eloquent minister of the 
church at Bergen-op-Zoom, from whom they had 
previously met with a repulse, the illustrious 
States and the Prince himself would exert them- 
selves to the utmost for the realization of their 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 165 

wish. The presbytery shortly after, having pre- 
viously spent some time in deliberation, came to 
the decision (on the 11th April) to intimate, 
through certain delegates to the honorable magis- 
trates, that "Arminius more than others was bound 
to his own church, and that they would decidedly 
prefer that he should be retained."* 

This decision of the ecclesiastical court being, 
in the opinion of the rulers, expressed in some- 
what dubious and too general terms, they de- 
manded of them a more extended counsel and 
resolution in respect to the business in question,f 
on which the presbytery decreed to treat, through 
the same delegates, with Arminius himself. These 
delegates, accordingly, setting on him with expres- 
sions of caressing blandishment, ardently besought 
him that he would suffer himself to be induced to 
devote his services and fulfil his pledge hencefor- 
ward to this church. Arminius replied, that "for- 
merly, indeed, he had been less inclined to under- 
take this professorial office ; but now, as matters 
stood, he felt himself rather impelled to undertake 
it, and ask his dismission. He had his own rea- 
sons for thinking that were his dismission refused, 
it would no longer be in his power to subserve the 
interests of the Church in Amsterdam. But if, 

* Ex Actis Synod. Eccles. Anistel.— Vid. Trigland. Hist. p. 286. 
f Ex Diario MS. Uitcnb. 



166 THE LIFE OF 

perchance, the expense originally laid out in 
enabling him to prosecute his studies should be 
alleged as an objection to his obtaining a dismis- 
sion, he would rather make restitution to them 
than that this call should be set aside. He was 
moreover prepared, in presence of the delegates 
of the Synod and of the Church, to hold a con- 
ference with the eminent Gomarus."* 

On learning this, the magistrates expressed no 
small solicitude and fear in reference to this busi- 
ness, lest Arminius should happen to suffer in his 
health from taking the refusal of his dismission 
too deeply to heart, and thus become useless 
alike to the Church and to the Academy, and 
many groundless rumors be thereby created ; on 
which grounds they urgently demanded of the 
ecclesiastical court a further deliberation on the 
matter. But the presbytery here began to weave 
occasions of delay, and to differ somewhat among 
themselves — some charging Arminius with bad 
doctrine, while others defended him. Wherefore, 
having again requested an audience, on the 13th 
day of April, at the close of the evening service, 
the above-named delegates of the Academy pre- 
sented themselves before this ecclesiastical assem- 
bly. They tried in every variety of way to impel 

* Ex Actis Presb. Amstelod. citatis a Trigland. p. 286. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 167 

the presbytery to dismiss Arminius, and to urge 
them to give a full deliverance. They further 
declared, through Uitenbogaert, who acted as their 
mouth, that " as they perceived that the tergiver- 
sation of this meeting was grounded on the wrong 
suspicions of some respecting Arminius, they would 
abandon this call on the spot if the ecclesiastical 
court would, in express terms, accuse him of bad 
doctrine. The care of the Academy had been 
committed to them, and its welfare lay much too 
near their heart to allow them to consent to have 
any connection with a divine of unsound views. 
But if, nevertheless, any doubt should yet cling 
to the minds of some, they pledged their faith 
that Arminius should not be installed into this 
academic function before he had given full satisfac- 
tion to his future colleague, the distinguished 
Gomarus."* 

After hearing this, and holding some further 
consultation on the matter, the presbytery at last 
gave their consent to the dismission requested/)" the 
following stipulation being made : u First, Arminius 
shall not leave Amsterdam to enter on this new 
function until the church of this city be provided 
with another pastor, learned and pious, and, if 
practicable, Baselius. . Secondly, after holding a 

* E. Vita Uitenb. Belgice ab ipso conscripta, cap. vi. 

f Ex Actis Presbyt. Amstelod. — Vid. Trigland. Hist. Eccles. 



168 THE LIFE OF 

conference with Gomarus on certain points of 
Christian doctrine, before the delegates of the 
churches, he shall wipe away all suspicion of 
heterodoxy by a candid explanation of his own 
opinion; and also, thirdly, should he happen at 
any time spontaneously to make up his mind to 
resign the office of professor, or should necessity 
urgently demand his services for the church in 
Amsterdam, he shall be at liberty to resume the 
pastoral function." This ecclesiastical decision 
was laid before the honorable magistrates on the 
following day, (the 15th April,) who, after first 
convening and taking into their counsel the illus- 
trious senate of the city, also gave their assent. 
Informed immediately of this result, the curators 
of the Academy expressed their thanks ; and hav- 
ing obtained, a little after, the consent of Arminius 
himself, they set out on their journey homeward 
with great delight. 

On all these circumstances connected with the 
call of Arminius to the professorship we have 
judged it proper to enter more minutely into 
detail, both because of the great light thrown on 
our path by the manuscript journals of Uitenbo- 
gaert, who, besides being present as an eye and 
ear-witness, was himself a prime actor in the busi- 
ness, and also because some writers of the present 
age, in recounting this matter, have, partly in 



JAMES ABMINIUS. 169 

gross ignorance of the things transacted, and 
partly in bad faith, advanced much on the subject 
that transcends very far indeed the boundaries of 
truth. On this account particularly, James Trig- 
landius, as compared with others, is in the highest 
degree blameworthy, and deserves to have branded 
on him a special mark of condemnation.* If his 
testimony be entitled to credit respecting the can- 
vassing which Arminius is alleged to have sys- 
tematically, and with downright servility, prose- 
cuted among his colleagues in order to obtain his 
dismission, and indeed respecting the entire course 
of his life, to which he makes reference in the 
same place, then certainly Arminius has done 
many things which must be pronounced utterly 
unworthy of an honorable and dignified teacher 
of the Church. But, in truth, how sorrily the 
author named fulfils the duties, in this case, of an 
ingenuous historian, may be inferred from the fact, 
that the most of those things which tend in the 
highest degree to stir bad feeling against Arminius, 
and which, in giving an account of his call to the 
professorship, he pretends to have himself taken 
from the very acts of the Amsterdam presbytery, 
are in fact by no means to be found in those acts 
which this ecclesiastical court drew up in the 

* Vid Trigland. Hist. Ecclesiast. pag. 287. 



170 THE LIFE OF 

course of that year ; unless, perchance, we must 
regard as authentic acts a certain rough and gar- 
bled account of the transaction which, after a long 
interval of time, (about the year 1617,*) and 
amid the most fervent heat of the controversies 
respecting predestination, was drawn up in favor 
of that very bitter antagonist of the Remonstrants, 
Adrian Smout, for the most part by P. Plancius — 
the indefatigable calumniator of Arminius even 
after his death — who took care to get it inserted 
among the acts of the Amsterdam Presbytery. 
That Triglandius really trod in the footsteps of this 
slanderer, and drew those things which concern 
the life and call of Arminius from this document 
of Plancius, was disclosed by John Ruloeus, a 
respectable minister at Amsterdam not so long 
ago, who, pressed by the native force of truth, 
was constrained to confess the fact in the same 
little workf in which he sets himself, with suffi- 
cient acerbity, to assail Arminius, and my father 
of happy memory, the defender of Arminius. 

Of little avail, in like manner, to the prejudice 
of Arminius, are the testimonies cited by this same 
Triglandius, and appended to the narration drawn 



* Vid. G. Brantii Parentis mei. F. M. Apolog. pro Hist. Reform, 
contra J. RulEeum Belgice conscript. 

j Ex Lib. J. Rulaei cui titulus O. Brantii audaz simulatio Belg. 
idiom, script. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 171 

up by Plancius, of the following ministers, Hallius, 
Ursinus, and Lemaire, respecting the protestations 
of Arminius, and the pledge that he gave them, 
that " he would advance nothing whatever in the 
Leyden Academy prejudicial to the peace of the 
Church ; nay, that he would keep to himself his 
private opinions, and such as were repugnant to 
the consent of the Reformed Churches, until the 
meeting of the next National Synod." For, be- 
sides that little weight is to be attached to these 
private declarations — which, moreover, were drawn 
up in behalf of the zealot whom we have named 
above, (Smout,) and that seven years and more 
after Arminius's death, Arminius constantly de- 
clared what is ascribed to him in these testimonies, 
and reserved a full explanation of his opinion on 
the subject of predestination to a general council 
of the churches ; until at length, in consequence 
of the growing strifes stirred by many in relation 
to this question, he, by order of his superiors, and 
in the very assembly of the States, disclosed all 
the sentiments and all the scruples of his mind. 
Whether and how far by this deed he is to be 
held guilty of violated faith, and rightly and justly 
to be regarded as the leader and instigator in 
rending the peace of the Church, the following 
line of narrative will yet more clearly show. 
The following words which he wrote to Uiten- 



172 THE LIFE OF 

bogaert, shortly after he obtained his dismission, 
clearly indicate with what modesty of mind, and 
aversion from every appearance of canvassing, the 
subject of our memoir bore himself in this delicate 
conjuncture: "My beloved friend, there is one 
thing which vehemently distresses me. How 
shall I be able to satisfy such a great expecta- 
tion ? How shall I be able to prove myself to be 
in some measure worthy of having so mighty a 
movement set agoing on my account? But I 
console myself with this consideration alone, that 
I have not courted the professorship, and that the 
curators were warned of those things which have 
happened before they had determined any thing 
on the subject of my call."* 

Meanwhile, Arminius by no means dreaded the 
appointed conference with Gomarus, but awaited 
its issue with a perfectly tranquil mind. Nay, 
when his familiar friends had various consulta- 
tions among themselves as to the plan of the con- 
ference about to be held, and some were desirous 
of having it arranged through the honorable cura- 
tors that this conference should be held privately 
with Gomarus rather than in the presence of the 
deputies of the churches, so far was he from any 
inclination to lend an ear to this advice, and elude 

* Ex Arm. Epist. ad TJitenb. 26 Ap. 1603. 



JAMES ARMINItTS. 173 

the condition stipulated by the brethren in Am- 
sterdam, that he gave vent to his feelings in the 
following words : "And to what suspicions shall I 
then be exposed ! For I shall be regarded as not 
merely suspected of heresy, but also, and thus far 
distrustful of my own cause, that I dare not to 
enter on the conference in the presence of the 
deputies of the Synod. I would rather confer 
with the entire Synod, and with the two Synods, 
(of North and South Holland,) than give occasion, 
even the least, for judging otherwise of me than 
that, cultivating a good conscience in all things, I 
do not dread the most prolix conference, yea, not 
even the most rigid examination." 

The sixth day of May was accordingly an- 
nounced for this conference to be held, in terms 
of the stipulated condition; and it took place at 
the Hague, in the house of the noble Lord of 
Norderwick, in the presence not only of Arnold 
Cornelis and Werner Hehnichius, in name of 
the churches of North and South Holland, but 
also of these most influential and learned men, 
Nicholas Cromhout, Rumboldt Hogerbeets, and J, 
Uitenbogaert, whom the honorable curators of the 
Academy had earnestly invited to grace the occa- 
sion. First of all, Gomarus marvelled, and took 
it amiss, that he saw no delegate present from the 
Church in Amsterdam, notwithstanding that the 



174 THE LIFE OF 

noble curators, in a most courteous letter delivered 
to the ecclesiastical court of that city, had be- 
sought th.it some one in their name should be 
present at the conference now to be held. For 
this divine thought it not quite proper that those 
should be absent on whose account principally he 
himself had come hither ; affirming, moreover, that 
he was " but little acquainted with the discourses 
and opinions of Arminius ; that the greater part 
of the doubts respecting him had been stirred 
by the brethren in Amsterdam ; and that it was 
their part, in consequence, to instruct and advise 
him in reference to the mode and subject-matter 
of this conference." At length, after a few pre- 
liminary explanations by the honorable curators, 
of the leading object of the meeting, the learned 
divine declared, that "although he would rather 
that this province had not been committed to him, 
he yet reckoned it a debt which he owed to the 
cause of truth to undertake its defence, agreeably 
to the request of brethren, as far as circumstances 
might demand." 

Arminius, on the other hand, expressed the 
utmost delight that he saw presented to him this 
most excellent and long-wished-for opportunity of 
vindicating the innocence of his good name. An 
agreement was forthwith made as to the order and 
heads of the subjects to be considered ; when Ar- 



JAMES AR JUNIUS. 175 

minius, first of all, judged it right that the princi- 
ple ought to be borne in mind, that "not every 
difference concerning religion respected the essen- 
tials of faith, and that those who dissented in cer- 
tain points which did not affect fundamentals, were 
entitled to forbearance." In corroboration of this 
claim, he instantly cited a certain celebrated saying 
of St. Augustin; and was proceeding to adduce 
more opinions to the same effect, from ancient as 
well as recent divines, when Gomarus objected, 
declaring it to be superfluous, and that a . the one 
point to be settled was, whether those questions 
of which they were about to treat ought, or ought 
not, to be regarded as essentials."* He main- 
tained the affirmative : Arminius maintained the 
negative, and proceeded forthwith to establish the 
truth of his position. 

But lest they should come to too close quarters, 
Gomarus immediately proceeded to attack the 
opinion of Arminius on the seventh chapter of the 
Epistle to the Romans, declaring and maintaining 
that it ran counter to the Palatine Catechism, and 
adducing certain passages from that document — 
yea, and pressing into his service even its mar- 
ginal notes. Arminius, on the other hand, refuted 
the arguments of his opponent, and boldly vindi- 

* Ex Diario MS. Uitenb. 



176 THE LIFE OP 

cated, against his exceptions, his own interpre- 
tation; maintaining, moreover, that that expres- 
sion of the Catechism which was urged against 
him, viz., "unless we are regenerated by the 
Holy Spirit,"* ought to be explained of regen- 
eration in its initial stage. He further testified 
" that he utterly rejected and detested the tenets 
on this point propounded by the Pelagians, and 
approved of those which Augustin and other 
divines of the Primitive Church had maintained 
in opposition to Pelagius and his followers ; that 
he entirely assented to the Catechism; that he 
by no means explained that passage from Paul, 
of the man considered as utterly irregenerate ; 
that his own opinion on this point was at the 
farthest possible remove from that of Prosper 
Dysidseus, (Faustus Socinus ;) and that he had 
never furnished just cause for such great com- 
motions as had formerly been excited in relation 
to this subject." 

On hearing this defence, and taking into account 
that Arminius disclaimed many of the tenets im- 
puted to him, and thought far otherwise on that 
controversy than from the report of others he had 
been given to understand, Gomarus ingenuously 
declared "that he had hitherto supposed that 

* Vid. Qusest. Catech. Palat. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 177 

Arminius maintained the opinion of Prosper Dy- 
sidseus, but lie now perceived that on .that ques- 
tion he was otherwise minded ; and therefore, as 
he (Gomarus) had not apprehended with sufficient 
clearness the full mind of Arminius on the matter, 
he begged that he would not think it too much to 
divulge his own opinions on the subject a little 
more fully and accurately." At this request, how- 
ever, that honorable man, and curator of the uni- 
versity, Neostadius, expressed his astonishment; 
insisting that those at whose request the distin- 
guished Gomarus had undertaken his present task 
ought to have instructed him better respecting the 
opinion of Arminius ; and that it belonged to him 
and to them, and not to Arminius, who sustained 
the character of the party accused, to produce 
those things which went to inculpate him. Ar- 
minius took the same ground, and added that " he 
would not say a word till Gomarus himself, and 
the other deputies of the churches, should have 
cleared him of the calumnies with which he had 
been aspersed." The honorable curators having 
lent their sanction to this declaration, Gomarus at 
length intimated " that, since Arminius repudiated 
Pelagianism, he was satisfied ; and that his inter- 
pretation, (of Romans vii.,) such as it was, could 
be tolerated." The deputies of the churches 
made a declaration to the same effect; immedi- 
8* 



178 THE LIFE OF 

ately after which, Arminius, producing a copy of 
the New Testament, which he always bore about 
with him, forthwith read the whole of that seventh 
chapter of Romans, from the beginning to the 
end, and expounded it so felicitously, that no 
one, not even Gomarus himself, hazarded a word 
in opposition — w T ith the exception of Arnold Cor- 
nells, who started one objection, on the solution 
of which he became instantly mute. On hearing 
this, Neostadius, turning to the deputies of the 
churches, exclaimed, " Is this, then, that con- 
troversy, so often agitated, which has for many 
years past stirred such mighty contention and 
clamor? And so we have in a brief space of 
time allayed a strife to terminate which even 
many years have not sufficed the people of Am- 
sterdam !"* 

That primary question being accordingly dis- 
missed, they proceeded to treat, though only in a 
cursory way, of the Church of Rome ; also of the 
determination of the human will by the Divine 
decree; and other kindred articles respecting 
which certain persons had insinuated that the 
sentiments of Arminius differed in some degree 
from those of the Reformed. But to the several 
charges Arminius learnedly and solidly replied; 

* Ex tractatu quodam Bertii, Belgice conscript. 



JAMES ARM INIUS. 179 

and so happily explained and defended his own 
opinion on these and other points, that the distin- 
guished Gomarus and the other deputies of the 
churches did not deem it worth their while to 
contend further about them.* And more, to rid 
their minds utterly of all their doubts, he, in the 
same confidence of spirit with which he had 
entered on this conference, drew from his pocket, 
and presented to the inspection of each, his own 
"Dissertation on the proper sense of the Seventh 
Chapter of the Romans" which some time previ- 
ously he had most learnedly written out in an 
expanded form. As no one, however, lifted this 
manuscript from the table, or said any thing 
whatever in reply to his interrogation, " If the 
brethren had aught further to require of him?" 
the conference terminated, with so happy an 
issue, that all, without exception, gave him the 
right hand of fraternal love ; and conducted him, 
in a body, to an entertainment which, by order of 
the illustrious curators of the Academy, had been 
provided for them in the Castile Inn, (as it was 
called,) at the Hague. On this occasion, too, 
these curators testified " that the suspicion stirred 
against Arminius had not been substantiated, nor 
was there just cause why any one should judge 

* Ex Diario MS. Uitenb. 



180 THE LIFE OF 

unfavorably respecting him ; for in the exercise 
of the liberty granted him of prophesying (of 
discussing sacred things) in the church, he had 
taught nothing that was inimical to the Christian 
religion."* 

The obstacles that obstructed his path to 
the professorship having been thus happily re- 
moved, some, whose counsel and authority he 
highly valued, urged him to consent to his being 
invested with the title of Doctor, and with this 
view to submit to a fresh examination. He 
judged it dutiful to defer to their wish; and 
accordingly repaired to Leyden on the 19th of 
June, and on the same day underwent a private 
examination. The success and issue of this ex- 
amination, which was conducted by the distin- 
guished Gomarus, I prefer to express in the words . 
of Arminius himself, as furnishing a thoroughly 
candid and remarkable testimony in favor of his 
examinator. He says, " I was examined on Tues- 
day by Gomarus, in the presence of the illustrious 
Grotius and Merula. He performed his part 
actively and honorably. I answered his questions 
as well as I could at the time. He, and the other 
two who were present, expressed themselves satis- 
fied. The examination turned on questions relat- 

* Ex. Bertii Orat. Funeb. 



JAMES ARM IN I US. 181 

ing to the substance of theology; and he con- 
ducted himself quite as he ought, and in the man- 
ner I could have wished."* 

Three weeks after, as a further step to his 
obtaining the title of Doctor, he held a public 
disputation on the 10th day of July, forenoon and 
afternoon; and defended ably and spiritedly the 
theses assigned him Concerning the Nature of God 
— the part of opponents having been undertaken 
by Peter Bertius, Festus Hommius, Crucius, and 
Nicolas Grevinchovius. The disputation passed 
off with universal applause. Our Arminius was 
the first, as Bertius testifies, who, in the Leyden 
Academy, bore away the title and degree of Doc- 
tor. The celebrated Gomarus conferred the honor 
upon him, with the usual formalities, on the 11th 
July. At the same time also, and on the occasion 
of this academic festival, he delivered that highly 
polished oration Concerning the Priestly Office of 
Christ, which is still extant among his posthumous 
works. Moreover, that a public memorial might 
remain of the honor thus conferred upon him, the 
Senatus Academicus further decreed that the fol- 
lowing testimonial should be presented to him at 
the time : 

* Ex Arm. Epist. ined. ad J. Uitenb. 21 Junii script. 



182 THELIFEOF 

"The Rector and Professors of the Ley den Aca- 
demy in Holland, to the reader, greeting : 

" Praiseworthy in every respect, and founded on 
reasons the strongest and most commendable, is the 
custom introduced by emperors, kings, and com- 
monwealths, that the man who has done distin- 
guished service in any science or art should be 
presented with the honorable testimonial of some 
university, and become known to all by the pro- 
clamation of his learning and virtue. If this be 
of the highest utility in all the sciences and arts, 
the more needful is it in sacred theology, by how 
much the doctrine of piety, from the majesty of 
Divine things, in the highest degree transcends all 
other arts and sciences. A twofold advantage, 
in particular, seems to result from such testimo- 
nials — to those who are furnished with them on 
the one hand, to the public on the other; for, in 
the first place, true and genuine doctors of the 
Church come thereby to be better known; and, 
in the next place, those engaged in this science — 
the noblest and most glorious of all — are animated 
and stimulated to prosecute with more alacrity 
such lofty studies. They too who are invested 
with a dignity so great are first reminded of their 
own duty, and of the faith they have pledged to 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 183 

Christ and his Church; and then they also feel 
animated themselves to hold on successfully in 
the career they have begun. Wherefore, as that 
most reverend and illustrious man, the learned 
James Arminius, has, during these many years 
past, in which he has applied his mind to the 
study of sacred literature, abundantly proved to 
the satisfaction of all of us, not only in a private 
examination, but also in theses On the Nature of 
God which he publicly and most learnedly main- 
tained against the arguments and objections of all, 
his remarkable and extraordinary knowledge and 
skill, at once of sacred letters and of orthodox 
theology, we have judged him in the highest 
degree worthy to be honored with our public testi- 
monial, and to be by us commended to all good 
men. Accordingly, by the authority granted us 
by that most excellent prince and lord, of glorious 
memory, William of Nassau, Prince of Orange 
and Governor of Holland, Zealand, etc., and also 
by the illustrious States of Holland and Zealand, 
we have designated and declared, and do designate 
and declare, the forenamed learned James Armin- 
ius (and hapfpy and auspicious may this be to the 
Republic and to the Christian Church !) to be 
Doctor of Sacred Theology ; and we have given, 
and do give unto him, authority to interpret pub- 
licly and privately the Sacred Scriptures, to teach 



184 



THE LIFE OP 



the mysteries of religion, and to dispute, write, 
and preside at discussions on points of the Chris- 
tian faith, as well as to solve theological questions ; 
also to perform all public and formal acts pertain- 
ing to the true office of a Doctor in theology ; in 
fine, to enjoy all the privileges and immunities as 
well as prerogatives which, whether by right or 
by custom, are due to this order and dignity of 
the theological doctorate. In fullest faith of all 
which, we have ordered to be given to him this 
public testimonial, authenticated by having affixed 
to it the greater seal of this Academy, and sub- 
scribed by the hand of the secretary. — Given at 
Leyden, in Holland, in the year of our Lord one 
thousand six hundred and three, on the tenth day 
of July, new style. 

" B. VULCANIUS."* 

Having in this manner obtained the title of 
Doctor, the subject of our memoir returned to 
Amsterdam; and after transacting in that city 
some matters of business which considerations 
of honor made it requisite to dispatch, at the close 
of the summer holidays he bade a final farewell to 
that celebrated church, of which he had officiated 
as pastor for a period of fifteen years. Nay, 

* Ex ipso autograph, sigillo Academioe subsignato. 



JAMES AKMINIUS. 185 

more : that he might address himself with the 
more spirit to the province assigned him, and sus- 
tain no injury henceforth from the sinister reports 
which had previously been circulated to his preju- 
dice, it seemed good to the Amsterdam Presby- 
tery, on the eve of his departure, to furnish him 
with an honorable testimonial, in which the rulers 
of that church testified, " That the consummate 
integrity of Arminius, their dearest co-presbyter, 
both for blamelessness of life and soundness of 
doctrine as well as of manners, had in the course 
of long acquaintance been so thoroughly testified, 
that they would value nothing more highly than 
the continued privilege of his advice, services, 
and familiar friendship. But, seeing it was now 
otherwise arranged, they gave thanks to Almighty 
God that they had reaped fruit, not to be re- 
pented of, from the unwearied zeal and exertions 
of this their fellow -laborer. They also acknow- 
ledged, freely and cordially, that they were not 
a little indebted to this their beloved brother, 
for the alacrity with which he had borne his full 
share along with them in all that pertained to 
the efficient discharge of the sacred function; 
and for this reason they commended him, from 
the heart, to all pious men, and to all the most 
learned." 

This very handsome testimony was followed up 



186 THE LIFE OF 

by another from the Amsterdam Classis, signed in 
name of the entire judicatory, by the Revs. John 
Ursinus, Halsberg, and Hallius, in which they 
openly declare : " That Doctor Arrninius, who had 
now for fifteen years been a member of their 
assembly, had always purely, and with much suc- 
cess, taught wholesome doctrine; had administered 
the sacraments, according to the institution of our 
Lord; had propagated with great zeal the true 
and Christian religion ; and had, by his diligence 
and regular attendance, proved an ornament to 
their assembly; further, that by his prudence 
and address he had settled with others affairs of 
great difficulty and importance; that he always 
promptly undertook whatever burdens were im- 
posed upon him with a view to promote the edifica- 
tion of the Church ; that he had, up to that very 
day, adorned his sacred calling by the respecta- 
bility and probity of his life ; and, in a word, that 
both in the sacred office, and in the common inter- 
course of life, he had conducted himself toward 
all in such a manner as became the genuine ser- 
vant of Christ."* 

* Integra liaec testimonia vide sis in Bert. Orat. Funeb. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 187 



CHAPTEE VII. 

DISCUSSIONS OP AEMINIUS AT LEYDEN, ESPECIALLY ON THE 
SUBJECT OP PREDESTINATION ; AND CONSEQUENT OPPO- 
SITION OF GOMARUS. — A. D. 1603, 1604. 

Thus honorably sent away, Arminius transferred 
his residence to Leyden, and concentrated all his 
eare on the one aim, how to sustain with suffi- 
cient dignity the office he had obtained. As he 
reflected, in those days, upon the lustre of that 
very important office, his heart sometimes failed 
him. In course of time, however, reassured by 
the kindly judgments of many respecting him, 
and by the favor of the entire Academy, he (in a 
letter dated 22d September, 1603) gave expres- 
sion in these words to the confidence of his spirit : 
" I will therefore, with the help of the good God, 
address myself to this province, and look for suc- 
cess by his abundant blessing. He knows from 
what motive I have undertaken this office, what 
is my aim, what object I have in view in discharg- 
ing the duties of it. He discerns and approves, I 



188 THE LIFE OF 

know. It is not the empty honor of this world — 
mere smoke and bubble — nor the desire of amass- 
ing wealth, (which indeed were in vain, let me 
strive to the utmost,) that has impelled me hither; 
but my one wish is to do public service in the gos- 
pel of Christ, and to exhibit that gospel as power- 
fully and plainly as possible before those who are 
destined, in their turn, to propagate it to others."* 
In this spirit he mounted the academic chair, 
and commenced his prelections with three elegant 
and polished orations, which he delivered in suc- 
cession. The first treated Of the Object of Sacred 
Theology; the second, Of the Author and End of 
Theology ; the third of its Certitude. By this 
method he strove to instil into the minds of the 
students a love for that divine and most dignified 
of all the sciences ; and at his very entrance into 
his office he judged with Socrates, the wisest of 
the Gentiles, that the principal part of his respon- 
sibility stood fulfilled, could he only succeed in 
inflaming his disciples with an ardent desire of 
learning. The foundation being thus laid, he pro- 
ceeded to build thereupon his finished prelections 
on the prophetic book of Jonah, which, many 
years before, he had expounded from the pulpit 
in his vernacular tongue. And indeed these lec- 

* Ex Epist. Arm. 22 Sept., 1603, script. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 189 

tures, while scarcely yet begun, conciliated toward 
him the favorable regards of auditors of all ranks, 
to such a degree that they regarded with profound 
respect this new Atlas of the Academy, and 
judged that in this renowned Doctor and succes- 
sor, most of all, they had got the deceased Junius 
restored to them again. The most noble curators 
of the Academy, too, congratulating themselves 
and their school on the accession of such a man, 
rendered the return of a grateful mind to those 
by whose interest and assiduity they had procured 
his release from the people of Amsterdam. As 
the illustrious Nicolas Cromhout, senator of the 
Provincial Court, had been preeminently active in 
this business, the noble John Dousa thought him 
entitled to have the following tribute of thanks 
sent to him in name of the entire Academy : 

"Cromhout! in Holland's Senate no mean name; 
Cromhout, rare laurel in thy country's fame ; 
Practiced in courts, accomplished and refined, 
No sordid motive taints thy lofty mind. 
Much owes our era to thy virtues rare, 
(Could Heaven a boon bestow more rich and fair ?) 
Yet more we owe; for through thy zeal it came 
That Amsterdam gave up a tender claim, 
And Leyden's learned halls could boast Arminius' name."* 

* The following are the lines, the sense of which we have thus en- 
deavored to present to the English reader : 

"Kromhouti, o Batavi pars baud postrema Senatus, 
Cromhouti, o Patriae gloria rara tuse : 



190 THE LIFE OF 

To these lines we have pleasure in adding part 
of a most elegant poem published on the same 
occasion, and by the same poet, in praise of the 
very eloquent Uitenbogaert : 

"By every true and pious breast, 

By all who love religion's ways, 
This truly ought to be confessed — 

That Uitenbogaert claims our praise. 
To him our lasting thanks are due ; 

Nor least that Leyden's learned fame 
Gained through his zeal a lustre new — 

It gained Arminius' rising name."* 

Nor ought it by any means to be passed by in 
silence, that this same clergyman, in consideration 
of his strenuous efforts to further the call of 
Arminius, was honored with a silver cup; this 
memorial of gratitude being presented to him, in 



Quod Fori, et assiduo Rerum limatus in usu, 

Sordida non ulla pectora labe geras; 
Multum equidem (quid enim majus dare Numina possint?) 

Virtuti debent ssecula nostra tuae : 
Plus tamen, Arminium quod te duce et auspice primum. 

Hollandse urbs dederit Amsterodama Scholse." 

* The following are the original lines: 

"Et sane fateamur hoc necesse est 
Omnes queis pietas, amorque veri 
Aut res Beligionis ulla cordi est, 
Istoc nomine nos Uitenbogardo 
Esse ac perpetuum fore obligates : 
Haud paulo tamen obligatiores 
Becens ob meritum, quod Aurasinse 
Doctorem Arminium Scholse dedisti." 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 191 

name of the Senatus Academicus, by those influ- 
ential men, Cornelius Neostadius and Nicolas Zeis- 
tius.* 

Meanwhile the subject of our memoir had 
scarcely set foot in the Academy when he was 
requested by two students of theology — namely, 
Corranus and Gilbert Jacchseus — that he would 
consent to honor with his presence their theses, 
or positions, which they had drawn up to be sub- 
jected to public examination — those of Corranus 
being on Justification, those of Jacchseus on Origi- 
nal jSin.f But although these positions contained 
some things not exactly to his mind, or in har- 
mony with the opinion he had formed on these 
questions, he judged it nevertheless to be quite 
in keeping with his office to undertake the part 
proposed to him ; for he was not ignorant of the 
fact, that some students of divinity under the 
presidency of Goniarus himself, and of other 
doctors, had more than once, in their own cause, 
defended certain dogmas to which these same 
doctors did not on all points accord their as- 
sent. For this reason the subject of our me- 
moir also (on the 28th October) conformed to this 
custom, by no means unusual in universities ; but 
on this occasion these very learned youths de- 

* Ex Diario MS. Uitenb. 

f Ex tractatu quodam Bertii, Belg. idiom, script. 



192 THE LIFE OF 

fended so strenuously each his own cause, that 
there was scarcely any need for the help or inter- 
ference of the President. 

Perceiving, however, but too plainly, while yet 
in the very threshold of the office on which he 
had entered, that the young intellects under his 
care were entangling themselves in the intricacies 
of many profitless questions, and, to the neglect 
of the standard of celestial truth, prosecuting a 
variety of thorny theorems and problems, he took 
counsel with his colleagues, and gave it as his 
opinion that this growing evil should be resisted, 
and the youth recalled to the earlier and more 
masculine method of study. With this view, he 
reckoned nothing more important than to foreclose, 
as far as he could, crabbed questions, and the 
cumbrous mass of scholastic assertions, and to 
inculcate on his disciples that Divine wisdom 
which was drawn from the superlatively pure 
fountains of the Sacred Word, and was provided 
for the express purpose of guiding us to a life of 
virtue and happiness. From his first introduction 
into the Academy it was his endeavor to aim at 
this mark, and give a corresponding direction to 
his studies, both public^ and private. But truly 
this laudable attempt was in no small degree 
thwarted, partly by the jealousy which some had 
conceived against him, and partly also by a certain 



JAMES AKMINIUS. 193 

inveterate prejudice as to his heterodoxy, with 
which many ministers of religion had long been 
imbued, and under the impulse of which they 
stirred up his colleagues against him. 

The first germs, indeed, of this budding jeal- 
ousy betrayed themselves in the following year, 
(1604;) for when Arminius, who had undertaken 
the task of interpreting the Old Testament in 
particular, proceeded also now and then to give a 
public exposition of certain portions of the New 
Testament, Gomarus took this amiss, and began 
to allege that the right of expounding the New 
Testament belonged solely to him, as Primarius 
Professor of Sacred Theology ; for this title had 
been conceded to him by the Senatus Academicus, 
a short time prior to the arrival of Arminius. 
Nay, more : happening to meet Arminius, he felt 
unable to contain himself, and in a burst of pas- 
sion broke out in these words: "You have in- 
vaded my professorship." Arminius replied that 
he did not mean to detract any thing whatever 
from the primacy of his colleague, and from the 
academic titles and privileges conferred upon him ; 
and that he had not done him the slightest injury, 
having obtained license from the honorable cura- 
tors to select themes of prelection at any time, 
not only from the Old Testament, but also from 
the New, provided he did not encroach on the 
9 



191 THE LIFE OF 

particular subject in which Gomarus might be 
engaged. 

But this dispute, which arose out of a matter 
of no moment, and was easily allayed, was from 
henceforth succeeded by others which opened the 
way to dissensions of greater magnitude, and of 
more disastrous issue to the Reformed Church. 
For Arminius, under the conviction that it was 
his duty to do nothing against the dictates of an 
undefiled conscience, and the proper liberty of 
teaching, in matters of religion, conceded to him- 
self as well as to other doctors of divinity, judged 
it to be in no respect unbecoming or unlawful for 
him — especially as he had not concealed from the 
honorable curators of the Academy that on the 
subject of Divine predestination he differed from 
the doctors of the Genevan school — to give forth, 
in a temperate manner, a public declaration of his 
opinion on that point. Accordingly, after the 
professors of theology had entered into a mutual 
arrangement as to the order and succession in 
which the disputations were to be held, and the 
lot had fallen to Arminius to dispute on the sub- 
ject of predestination, he drew up, on the 7th 
February, certain theses on that point, and ex- 
posed them for public discussion. Their purport 
was this : " that Divine predestination is the de- 
cree of God's good pleasure in Christ, by which, 



JAMES AEMINIUS. 195 

with himself, from eternity, he resolved to justify 
and adopt believers, on whom he decreed to be- 
stow faith, and to give eternal life to them, to the 
praise of his glorious grace ; that reprobation, on 
the other hand, is the decree of wrath, or the 
severe will of God, by which, from eternity, he 
resolved to condemn to eternal death unbelievers 
who, by their own fault, and by the just judg- 
ment of God, will not believe, as persons who are 
not in a state of union with Christ — and this for 
the declaration of his wrath and power."* But 
although this position of his did not perfectly cor- 
respond to those which Calvin and Beza had given 
forth on this subject, still he by no means looked 
upon it as a novelty, but as entirely coinciding 
with the opinion which George Sohnius, and other 
divines before him, of the Reformed religion, had 
taught both by tongue and pen. Besides, that he 
might not, in defending these positions, incur the 
just offence of any one, he was particularly on his 
guard, in the course of this disputation, against 
saying any thing in disparagement of the reputa- 
tion of Calvin and Beza, sparing their names, and 
manifesting severity toward no one of a different 
opinion. Not long after, (on the 29th May, and 
some time in July,) with the same freedom of 

* Vid. Uitenb. Hist. Eccl. 



196 THE LIFE OP 

discussion, and in the same temperate tone, he 
further subjected to public examination his theses 
On the Church, and On the Sin of our First Pa- 
rents; and in the course of this last disputation, 
Gomarus and Trelcatius being present, he took 
occasion, by a series of very solid arguments, to 
confute the necessity and establish the contingency 
of that sin.* But although he was convinced 
that the opinion of his adversaries on this point 
involved numerous absurdities, and that every 
thing that was wont to be adduced, in palliation 
of this dogma, of the absolute necessity of things, 
deserved to be discarded, he nevertheless, in this 
as well as in other controversies, conducted his 
own cause with much moderation, and, directing 
his address to hia hearers, begged this only at 
their hands, that they would diligently sift what- 
ever arguments he advanced; adding — what on 
all occasions, public and private, he was wont to 
declare — that he was ready to yield to those who 
taught what might be more in accordance with 
truth. Not a few, however, murmured against 
the disputation thus held, and took it amiss that 
among other things he had maintained "that 
there is no absolute necessity in things, besides 
God; yea, that not even does fire burn necessa- 

* Vicl. Epist. Eccles. p. 134. 



JAMES ABMIJTIUS. 197 

rily; but that every necessity which exists in 
things or events is nothing else than the relation 
of cause to effect."* 

On the same point, too, shortly after, a discus- 
sion was started and kept up at considerable 
length with him, by the very learned Helmichius, 
who happened at that time to have taken a 
journey to Leyden.f Helmichius asserted, that 
many things were, in different respects, both con- 
tingent and necessary. This Arminius denied of 
things absolutely necessary. Helmichius appealed 
to passages plainly testifying that the word of God 
stands ; that the ivord of God cannot be broken ; that 
God's counsel is fulfilled, etc. ; and thence inferred 
that what God had decreed must come to pass 
necessarily. Arminius denied this consequence, 
on the ground that God's decree might rightly and 
correctly be said to stand, if that which he had 
decreed came to pass, although it should not come 
to pass necessarily. Helmichius acknowledged 
that the opinion which Arminius defended did not 
subvert the foundations of the faith, neither could 
it be called heretical. Arminius on the other hand 
maintained, that so far was this opinion from 



* Ex Epist. Arm. 17 Aug. 1604, script. Vid. Epist. Eccles. p. 
138. 

f Videsis de hac materia Armin. disserentem in Epist. ad Uitenb. 
17 Aug., et 3 Kal. Sept. script. 1604. 



198 THE LIFE OF 

deserving to be branded with so black a name, 
that nothing, he felt persuaded, would tend more 
to illustrate the glory of God, than if all Chris- 
tians whatsoever were to maintain that there is 
nothing necessary besides God; and that he not only 
forehioivs things contingent, but also that his decrees 
are accomplished through contingent events and free 
causes. At length, however, after much had 
passed on both sides, and Arminius had offered to 
hold a conference with him respecting all the 
articles of the Christian religion, and the entire 
system of theological doctrine, Helmichius bade 
him a friendly farewell. 

Meanwhile his colleagues up to this time had 
stirred no strife against him, on the subject of the 
controversies thus agitated ; nor had they given as 
much as the slightest indication, public or private, 
of a hostile spirit.* For although Gomarus, who 
was engaged at this time in the Exposition of the 
Ninth Chapter of the Epistle of Paul to the Ro- 
mans, had given a public pledge that he would 
discuss all the opinions concerning predestination, 
to be followed by a statement and proof of his 
own, this, so far from striking terror into Armin- 
ius, led him rather to declare, " that if that very 
distinguished man should advance such arguments 

* Ex Epist. Arm. 3 Kal. Sept. 1604. 



JAMES AK MINI US. 199 

as were incapable of being answered, he for his 
part would be the first to assent to his opinion 
and recant his own." Thus maintaining entire for 
his colleagues the same liberty of defending their 
own opinion in which he himself rejoiced, he cher- 
ished the hope that they would by no means over- 
step the bounds of Christian charity and fraternal 
equity. 

But, alas, while thus secure, and meditating no 
evil, he was overtaken by a very vehement storm. 
For Gromarus did not think fit to wait till a proper 
opportunity should be furnished him for disputing 
on the subject of predestination, but, either of his 
own accord, or, as is more probable, at the insti- 
gation of others, so far overstepped order and his 
own proper turn, as to expose to public view 
certain theses on that self-same subject, which, 
according to the sole custom of the Academy, and 
in his proper rotation, Arminius had already dis- 
cussed; and reports spread throughout the city 
that he was about to descend into the arena 
against Arminius, in open war. The clay inti- 
mated for holding this disputation was the 31st 
October. When it came round, straightway Go- 
marus, in a preface sufficiently acrimonious, and 
with an excited countenance, stated the reasons 
which had impelled him to hold this disputation 
out of the due order; and he advanced many 



200 THE LIFE OF 

things which were manifestly intended as an 
attack upon Arminius. As to the positions he 
defended, they hinged on this : " that the object 
of predestination is creatures rational, salvable, 
damnable, creatable, fallible, and recoverable. Fur- 
ther, that from among these, indefinitely fore- 
known, God, as absolute sovereign, of his own right 
and good pleasure, foreordained, on the one hand, 
certain individuals, to his own supernatural ends ; 
namely, eternal life, and creation in an entire state 
of original righteousness, and holiness of life; and 
also on the other hand destined other individuals, 
eternally rejected from eternal life, to death and 
everlasting ignominy, and to the ways leading 
thereto ; namely, to creation in a state of integ- 
rity, permission to fall into sin, loss of original 
righteousness, and abandonment in that loss ; for 
this end, that by this way of acting he might 
make known his most sovereign authority, wrath, 
and power on the reprobate, and the glory of his 
saving grace in relation to the elect." Yea, more : 
on that same occasion this doctor asserted and 
openly maintained, " that the gospel could not be 
simply called the manifestation of the Divine pre- 
destination ;" and added, by way of corollary, that 
"Castellio, Coornhert, and the Lutherans, falsely 
object to the Reformed Churches, and in particu- 
lar to Calvin and Beza, who did signal service to 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 201 

the Church, and to the truth of predestination, in 
opposition to the Pelagians, that God by this doc- 
trine is made the author of sin." 

Arminius, who "was present at this disputation 
from beginning to end, stomached the insult, and 
bore in silence whatever odium was thus created 
against him. Nay, sick in body at the time, 
though not in mind, he, on the day following that 
on which the disputation was held, (November 1,) 
opened his mind to Uitenbogaert in the following 
words : " I know, and have the testimony of con- 
science, that I have neither said nor done aught 
to afford Gomarus just cause of offence. I will 
readily return to favor even with him, though his 
conduct has been most offensive — yea, and with 
him of Amsterdam also, if he will henceforth but 
hold his peace. It is not lawful for me to hate 
any one, or long to retain wrath against any one, 
however just : that God who is described to us in 
the Bible instructs me to this effect by his word, 
Spirit, and example. Would that he might teach 
me to be moved by nothing, except when any 
blame is justly attributable to myself! It is not 
my part to answer for what another says or does; 
and I should be foolish were I to concede to any 
one so much of right in me, as that he should be 
able to disturb me as often as he had a mind. Be 
this my brazen wall — a conscience void of offence. 



202 THE LIFE OF 

Forward still let me go in my begun search after 
truth, and therein let me die, with the good God 
on my side, even if, on this account, I must needs 
incur the hatred and ill-will of the whole world ! 
The disciple is not above his master. No new 
thing is this, for the truth to be rejected even by 
those whom such conduct least beseems, and who 
least of all wish to incur such a charge."* 

Moreover, that he might not appear to have 
abandoned the defence of the truth, at which, 
through him, a stab had been dealt, or to have 
any misgivings with respect to his own cause, he 
composed not long after, for the benefit of those 
who under him were devoutly prosecuting the 
study of theology, that highly-finished Examina- 
tion of the Theses exposed to view by Gomarus for 
public discussion, which, many years after his 
decease, was (in 1645) given to the world, along 
with these same theses of Gomarus, by that very 
learned man, Stephen Curcellseus. This golden 
little treatise is characterized by the same acute- 
ness, strength of reasoning, and transparency of 
learned diction which distinguish his other writ- 
ings ; and he appears to have presented his emi- 
nent colleague with a copy of it. Mark, reader, 
this most generous preface to it, which is well 

* Ex Epist. Arm. 1 Nov., 1604, script. 



JAMES ARMINITJS. 203 

entitled to a place in our narrative : " In the 
highest degree useful, and above all things neces- 
sary, is that admonition of the apostle which com- 
mands us to prove and devoutly to examine the 
dogmas propounded in the Church before we 
approve and receive them as truths. For seeing 
that, if we except apostles and prophets, the most 
eminent doctors of the Church are not placed 
beyond the liability of error, it does happen that 
they advance some things occasionally which are 
not taught by God in his word, but which they 
either themselves have excogitated in their own 
human spirit, or received from others to whose 
authority they attribute more than is meet. Nay, 
this very thing may happen even at the time when 
they themselves think that they have thoroughly 
examined the dogmas they propound according to 
the standard of Scripture. Such being the case, 
do not take it ill, illustrious Gomarus, if I weigh 
according to Scripture, and candidly and temper- 
ately explain what I desiderate in those theses on 
predestination which you penned not so long ago, 
and publicly exhibited as matter for disputation. 
I testify solemnly, and in the presence of God, 
that I take upon me this task not from the desire 
of contention, but in the endeavor to investigate 
and find out the truth, to the end that the truth 
may more and more become known and every- 



204 THE LIFE OF 

where obtain in the Church of Christ. That you 
also set before you this aim when you addressed 
yourself to that disputation, I am thoroughly 
assured. In mind and end, then, we agree, how- 
ever in judgment we may chance to differ. Of 
this difference I take, as in duty bound, God 
speaking in the Scriptures to be the arbiter ; and 
devoutly venerating his majesty and supplicating 
his favor, let me now address myself to my task." 
These statements being premised, and a basis 
laid for his treatise, he proceeds to build there- 
upon his considerations on the several propositions 
of Gomarus, and of the proofs of these noted 
down on the margin. Eminently masculine and 
judicious is his reply to the corollary of Gomarus 
in which he complains of some who preferred 
against the Reformed Church, and its principal 
doctors, the charge of blasphemy. Here Armin- 
ius wisely judges that it ought to be borne in 
mind, " that it is one thing avowedly to make God 
the author of sin, and another thing to teach 
somewhat in ignorance from which one could legiti- 
mately infer that God, by that doctrine, was made 
the author of sin. The former could not be fast- 
ened upon any of the doctors of the Reformed 
Church; and whatever Castellio, Coornhert, and 
others, had urged, perhaps somewhat too offen- 
sively, against them, was grounded solely on this 



JAMES A KM INI US. 205 

consideration, that in their opinion that offensive 
conclusion was fairly and legitimately deducible 
from the doctrine of those divines. But in iden- 
tifying the Reformed Churches with the learned 
Calvin and Beza, Gomarus had done more than he 
was warranted to do. What some eminent doc- 
tors professed could not perpetually be laid to the 
charge of the churches, unless it were clearly 
evident that the same doctrine had been approved 
by the churches, and embodied in their Confes- 
sions. Moreover, setting aside all considerations 
of persons, or sinister intention as respects object- 
ors, the naked arguments they advanced were 
entitled to examination. Celebrity of name ex- 
empted no one from the liability to err ; and the 
first teachers of the Reformed may be held en- 
titled to the highest esteem and gratitude of the 
Church, although they may not perhaps have seen 
sufficiently through all those things by which it 
had been deformed. It was false to rank with 
Pelagians those who impugned the opinion which 
Gomarus maintained on the subject of predesti- 
nation, it being as clear as noonday, from the 
ancient ecclesiastical synods, that the Pelagian 
doctrines could be rejected even by those who 
nevertheless by no means assented to the opinion 
contained in the above theses of Gomarus. Au- 
gustin himself could solidly confute the errors of 



206 THELIFEOP 

the Pelagians, and at the same time omit that 
doctrine which he taught on the subject of Divine 
predestination. Nay, even that opinion which 
Gomarus and several others delivered on that 
subject differed very materially from the opinion 
of Augustin, and supposed many things which 
Augustin would by no means have granted. It is 
incumbent on us to avoid the breakers not of 
Pelagianism only, but also of Manichaeism, and 
of errors still more infamous. For his part, after 
attentively weighing the doctrine, not so much of 
the entire Reformed Church as of Gomarus and 
certain others, he felt thoroughly persuaded that 
it followed from it that God was the author of sin; 
at the same time he also testified and declared 
that he heartily detested all the tenets of the 
Pelagian doctrine as these had been condemned in 
the synods of Mileve, Orange, and Jerusalem; 
and if any one could prove that aught akin to 
these was deducible from the sentiments he had 
above set forth, he would that very instant change 
his opinion." 

Thus writes Arminius ; nor would we judge it 
dutiful to forbear mentioning in this connection, 
that Gomarus, at a subsequent period, pressed by 
certain arguments advanced by Arminius in the 
treatise just referred to, introduced several changes 
for the better into his later theses on the subject 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 207 

of The Eternal Decree and Predestination of God. 
For besides that, he abandoned that absurd opin- 
ion, "that the decrees of God are naught other 
than God himself," and maintained the direct con- 
trary with all his might, he was also glad to admit 
that there is in God what the schoolmen call a 
conditionate knozvledge, by the aid of which he 
sought to rid his opinion of that enormous mon- 
strosity which made God the author of the sin of 
the first man, and consequently of all the rest 
which proceed from it.* 

* Ex prcefat. S. Curcellsei in Examen Gomari Thes. 



208 THE LIFE OF 



CHAPTER VIII. 

SUSPICIONS AGAINST ARMINIUS, AND RIGOROUS MEASURES 
WITH HIS STUDENTS — FRESH DISPUTATIONS — COMMENCE- 
MENT OF ECCLESIASTICAL PROCEEDINGS. — A. D. 1604, 

1605. 

Not to wander from the thread of our narrative, 
although the opinion of Gomarus above-named, 
and which he publicly defended, on the subject of 
Divine predestination, appeared — on the express 
admission even of his greatest supporters — to 
stretch somewhat beyond the limits of the Belgic 
Confession, and to transcend the doctrine prevail- 
ingly taught in the churches of the Reformed, 
still Arminius had to bear a crushing load of jeal- 
ous feeling; and his adversaries left no means 
untried by which to burn some brand of contumely 
into his rising reputation. Immediately through 
the town of Ley den, and thence through all Hol- 
land, the rumor was set afloat that the profes- 
sors of sacred literature differed seriously among 
themselves. The matter was everywhere in the 



JAMES AEMIXIUS. 209 

mouths of carders, furriers, weavers, and other 
artisans of that class — chiefly Flemings, with whom 
Ley den abounded. Many, too, in their gross igno- 
rance of theological controversies, attributed to 
Arminius the opinion of Gomarus, and to Gomarus, 
on the other hand, the opinion of Arminius.* 

In the beginning of next year (1605) the sub- 
ject of our memoir was presented with the fasces 
of the Academy, and the title of Rector Magnific ; 
but though he could discern that, with this in- 
creased dignity, he was regarded by many with an 
increased measure of esteem, he saw not less 
plainly that others abated nothing whatever of 
their alienation of mind, and of their clandestine 
endeavors against him. Many put the worst con- 
struction on his best Avords and deeds. If at any 
time, in building up his opinion on certain contro- 
versies, he happened now and then to advance 
certain arguments which were also employed by 
Popish writers themselves, by Lutherans, and 
others besides the Reformed, the clamor was forth- 
with raised by ignorant persons that he had gone 
over to the enemy's camp. Besides, they set it 
down as a fault, that in establishing some doc- 
trines of the Christian faith, and vindicating the 
truth of these against the contempt poured upon 

* Uitenb. Hist. Eccles. 



210 THE LIFE OF 

them by adversaries, he expressed the opinion 
that certain frivolous arguments, little apposite to 
the point, ought to be utterly discarded, and others 
of much greater strength to be substituted in their 
place. In this he trod in the footsteps of Calvin 
himself, who had expounded very differently from 
the ancient doctors of the Church many passages 
of the Old Testament which they had often and 
inconsiderately cited in support of the eternal 
divinity of Christ. Nor were parties wanting 
who charged it against Arminius as a crime, that 
he had handed to his disciples, for their private 
transcription, certain treatises written in his own 
hand, and embracing his opinion on various con- 
troversies — forgetting that the famous Junius and 
others had used the same liberty before him.* 
Moreover, while the interests of the churches, 
notwithstanding that a controversy had arisen in 
the Academy on the subject of predestination, 
would in all probability have sustained no injury 
had the discussion been confined within the walls 
of the university, or to private conferences between 
professors and pastors, conducted with that good 
faith, moderation, and prudence that were meet, 
yet the churches came to be involved in far greater 
peril after many had filled the whole country and 

* Vid. prsefat. Act. Synod. Dordr. 



JAMES AE JUNIUS. 211 

adjacent regions with false reports. Hence, for 
example, the public complaints and bitter decla- 
mations against Arminius with which the places 
of worship up and down at this time resounded, 
to the effect that entirely new doctrines were 
introduced ; that the doctrine hitherto received by 
the Reformed was changed ; that old heresies were 
now suspended on a new post; and that right 
good care ought to be taken that no injury should 
thence accrue to the Church. 

Among the rest, Festus Hommius, a clergyman 
of Leyden, was very active at that time as a 
declaimer of the sort described. This person, by 
underhand circumlocution, traduced the character 
of Arminius ; blackened without end his words 
and actions ; and hurled against him, in his ab- 
sence, many charges, which in his presence he 
refused to produce. For this reason, the subject 
of our memoir, aware of what things were clone 
against him in secret, thought that this ecclesiastic 
ought to be seriously and boldly reminded of his 
duty; and embracing an opportunity that oc- 
curred, John Uitenbogaert and Adrian Borrius, 
the one a clergyman of the Hague, the other of 
Leyden, being present, he replied to all the mat- 
ters of calumny, and all his detractions, in such a 
manner that Hommius was struck dumb, and even 
declared, at the close of the interview, his 



212 THE LIFE OF 

ness to institute an inquiry after truth. But from 
this very time, strange to say, that clergyman not 
only shunned private interviews with Arminius, 
but, that he might not betray any want of confi- 
dence in his own cause, he subsequently told his 
familiar friends in private, that on returning home 
from this interview with Arminius, and humbly 
praying to God that Pie would vouchsafe to open 
his eyes and show him the truth, he was instantly 
surrounded with such a flood of light and joy, that 
he firmly resolved within himself to persevere hence- 
forth in the received opinion. On hearing this story, 
Arminius broke out into these words : "Well done, 
worthy investigators of the truth ! As if God, 
forsooth, grants his Holy Spirit at one prayer in 
such large bestowals as to impart the ability to 
judge, in matters so great, without any liability 
of error ! He gives his Holy Spirit to his elect 
who importune his awful majesty for it night and 
day."* 

His disciples and admirers, however, began in 
those days to be accused of the same crimes 
which were imputed to himself; the discourses 
and arguments by which they sought to establish 
the doctrines of the Christian faith being subjected 
to misinterpretation. Hence the rumor gained 

* Vid. Arm. ad Uitenb. epist. 20 Maji 1605, script.— Epist. Eccles. 
p. 245. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 213 

currency that those who had returned from the 
Academy, or turned aside to other academies, 
were wantonly insulting the Reformed Churches, 
by disputing, contradicting, and vilifying the re- 
ceived doctrine. Nor were there wanting those 
who, by a certain guileful art, narrowly watched 
several students of theology that were on more 
familiar terms with our doctor, and were in the 
habit of attending his private meetings ; and from 
their answers — which, as may occasionally be ex- 
pected of very young men, were at times some- 
what unguarded, and stretched beyond the mind 
of their master — they snatched a handle and an 
opportunity of foully traducing, to the people, 
Arminius himself. More severe investigations, 
besides, began to be instituted by certain Classes 
and ecclesiastical assemblies against his disciples ; 
and their words and actions were watched more 
sternly than was meet. 

This was exemplified by the case of John Nar- 
sius of Dort, who at this time prosecuted under 
Arminius the study of theology with a zeal not 
to be repented of, and who afterward occupied a 
position of eminence as pastor of the church at 
Grave. Being a young man of very practiced 
and highly polished intellect, he was supported, 
in hope of the Church, at the expense of the 
State of Amsterdam • and although, in the year 



214 THE LIFE OF 

immediately preceding, on being privately exam- 
ined by the pastors of this very celebrated city, he 
had given them the very highest satisfaction, this 
in no degree availed to exempt him from the sus- 
picion of having imbibed impious opinions from 
his preceptor. In order, therefore, to elicit his 
mind, these same clergymen thought proper (on 
the 13th January, 1605) to order certain theolo- 
gical questions to be drawn up in writing, that 
to these Narsius might reply, also in writing. 
That the reader may be enabled to judge the more 
accurately of the controversies agitated at this 
time, it may not be out of place here to present 
these very questions in detail, along with the 
answers of Narsius himself. 

Question I. Whether God so directs and gov- 
erns the free will of man that he is neither obliged 
nor is able to do any thing in any other mode, 
and any further, than precisely as God has de- 
creed ? 

Answered in the affirmative; but with this 
qualification, that Divine Providence be not held 
to take away the free will of man, in the act of 
directing the same. 

Quest. II. Whether God governs the actions of 
the wicked in this manner, that they no otherwise 
act, or can act, than as God has determined ? 

Ans. Yes ; if the question is to be taken in this 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 215 

sense, that those who had come to apprehend 
Christ* could not have done that until God per- 
mitted it. 

Quest. III. Whether whatsoever things come 
to pass contingently in respect of men (that is, so 
that they can come to pass, or not come to pass, 
and can happen in this manner, or in another) also 
come to pass thus contingently in respect of pro- 
vidence and of the Divine decree ? 

Ans. I have to request, brethren, that, seeing 
the word contingently is not to be found in the 
Sacred Volume, nor in the Belgic Confession, nor 
yet in the Palatine Catechism, and is moreover 
used in a variety of senses by scholastic writers, 
you will submit to rest satisfied with this my con- 
fession : " Nothing comes to pass by chance ; but 
whatsoever things come to pass, whether of great 
account or small, whether good or bad, are sub- 
jected to the government and direction of Divine 
Providence ; in such a manner, indeed, that those 
things which seem to us to be uncertain, and to 
happen by chance, nevertheless, in respect of the 
most wise and omnipotent providence of God, and 
of his eternal decree, happen certainly and immu- 
tably ; although, of the evil itself which is com- 
mitted, he is in no respect the author." 

* Referring evidently to Acts ii. 23 ; iv. 28.— Tr. 



216 THE LIFE OF 

Quest. IV. Whether the same place can always 
be assigned to free will in good actions, as can be 
assigned in bad ? 

Ans. To man, after the fall, and in a state of 
depravity, only a free will belongs which is prone 
to evil, so that he is the slave of sin and Satan. 

Quest. V. Whether men before regeneration 
may have a good will, which is truly good, or may 
have true faith ? 

Ans. Man considered as fallen has, from him- 
self, neither a good will which is truly good, nor 
faith, nor regeneration. 

Quest. VI. Whether all to whom the Divine 
law has been made known can act genuine repent- 
ance, and properly convert themselves to God ? 

Ans. By no means. 

Quest. VII. Whether power to believe is always 
supplied, by the self-same operation, to all to 
whom the doctrine of the gospel is announced ? 

Ans. To man considered in himself belongs no 
power of believing; but whosoever at any time 
believe, these same persons receive that faith in 
no other way than by the special illumination of 
the Holy Spirit ; so that faith is the gift of God, 
freely bestowed, apart from all consideration of 
merit. So far, however, as concerns other ques- 
tions — for example, what kind of grace does God 
bestow through the preaching of the gospel, anc? 



JAMES AEMINIUS. 217 

in addition thereto ; in what manner that celestial 
influence operates on, and concurs with, the intel- 
lect and the will; whether, moreover, to those 
who have no faith in Christ, common grace of that 
kind be given through, or independently of, the 
preaching of the evangelical doctrine, by which 
they can believe, and consequently by it be ren- 
dered inexcusable? — respecting these and other 
points I find nothing explicit in the Belgic Confes- 
sion and Catechism, nor do I venture at present 
to maintain any thing whatever, either on one side 
or on the other. On the contrary, my wish is to 
adhere cordially to the Confession and Catechism, 
and keep myself open to light. 

Quest. VIII. "Whether there be in all men ori- 
ginal sin ? Whence that flows into human nature 
— namely, whether through the soul of the pa- 
rents, or through the body, or from any other 
source ? 

Ans. Original sin has place in all mortals what- 
soever, with the exception of Christ. But whether 
it reaches us through the soul or through the body 
does not, in my judgment at least, sufficiently 
appear from the sacred writings. Yet I cannot 
but believe that the thing itself, by a wonderful, 
indeed, but still just dispensation of God, flows 
into us from the fall of Adam, in whom we have 
all sinned. All the descendants of Adam, more- 
10 



218 THE LIFE OP 

over, have a certain innate corruption which ren- 
ders them useless in respect to any thing good, 
and prone to all that is evil, and the remains of 
which even the regenerate themselves deeply feel. 

Quest. IX. Whether the words of Matthew, 
chap, xviii. 17, 18, "Tell it to the Church," etc., 
do not refer to ecclesiastical discipline ? 

Ans. That ecclesiastical discipline has been in- 
stituted by God, I believe ; nor am I prepared to 
deny that the passage cited bears reference to it.* 

Such were the replies of Narsius, from whose 
mouth (if he had chanced to advance any thing 
unguardedly) not a few endeavored to fish out 
somewhat that might afford ground of attack or 
of cavil against his preceptor, Arminius. Great, 
however, as was the caution he used in the fore- 
going answers, he was unable to satisfy these 
ecclesiastical Aristarchuses.f So far from this, 
being suspected and hated amongst them on the 
ground of his close intimacy with Arminius, he 
shared the same lot with him from that time for- 
ward, until he was driven, by the impetuosity of 
adversaries, to identify himself with the party of 
the Remonstrants, after the death of Arminius, 



* Vid. Uitenb. Hist. Eccles. Belgico idiom, conscript, p. 327. 

f Aristarchus was a grammarian of Alexandria, who subjected 
Homer's poetry to very hard criticism. Hence his name became a 
proverbial designation for any severe critic. — Tb. 



JAMES AKHINIUS. 219 

and openly to patronize their opinions and their 
cause. 

Somewhat similar, about this time, was the treat- 
ment experienced by Abraham Vlietius, from Voor- 
burg, who, besides attending Kuchlinus, availed 
himself also of the instructions of Arminius. At 
a public disputation held on the 30th April under 
the presidency of Gomarus, on the subject of 
Divine Providence,* Vlietius, according to the cus- 
tom of the Academy, and for the sake of exercis- 
ing his powers, advanced, in a tone of sufficient 
moderation, certain solid arguments against the 
theses that were subjected to discussion. By this 
act he stirred the bile of the distinguished Presi- 
dent to such a degree, that, not content with 
replying to the objector in very acrimonious terms, 
he proceeded, with mind and feature thoroughly 
discomposed, and with little attempt at disguise, 
to traduce Arminius, who, he presumed — incor- 
rectly, however — was the artificer and prompter 
of the objections in question. Arminius, who was 
present at this scene, bore with tranquil mind the 
insult thus perpetrated upon himself and his dis- 
ciple, and judged it best to put up with it in 
silence. But when by this transaction Vlietius 
had drawn on himself the odium of many, as if 

* Vid. Epist. Arm. 



220 THE LIFE OP 

his intention had been to excite an uproar, Armin- 
ius, to prevent the affair from entailing any injury 
on his beloved disciple, cheerfully interposed in 
support of his wronged reputation, with the fol- 
lowing testimonial : 

" That Abraham Vlietius, in a disputation con- 
cerning Divine Providence held on the 30th April, 
1605, was bound, from the office he then under- 
took in the college of disputants, to offer objec- 
tions ; and that, in objecting, he kept himself 
within the bounds of modesty, and advanced no- 
thing unworthy either of himself or his auditory, 
and consequently gave no just occasion of com- 
plaint, I hereby testify as requested. 

"James Arminius, 

"Rector of the Academy for the time being, and myself au 
eye and ear-witness."* 

At the same time, moreover, in which these 
things happened, a somewhat serious annoyance 
was stirred against Arminius by his uncle and col- 
league, John Kuchlinus, P^egent of the Theologi- 
cal Faculty. This person, under the pretext of 
an ardent zeal for the maintenance of the truth, 
and in opposition to novel doctrines and the active 
emissaries of innovation, and also of an apprehen- 
sion lest the flower of their youth and the hope 
of the Church should be imbued with pernicious 

* Exjpso Arm. autograph. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 221 

errors, left no stone unturned by which he might 
drive all the students of the Theological College 
away from the prelections of Arminius.* Accord- 
ingly, changing the hour for his own prelections, 
he chose the very hour in which Arminius had 
been accustomed to hold his, as that in which he 
would expound the several heads of the Belgic 
Confession; and he ordered all the students to 
be present at these academical exercises. This 
attempt, however, the subject of our memoir very 
spiritedly withstood; and having lodged a com- 
plaint respecting it to the honorable magistrates 
of the city of Leyden, he succeeded in getting 
the whole affair deferred until the next arrival of 
the curators of the Academy. 

Meanwhile, in order to counteract with all his 
might the calumnies of those who flung against 
him the charge of error on the subject of Divine 
Providence, he held a public disputation on the 
4th May, 1605, "Concerning the righteousness 
and efficacy of Divine Providence respecting evil;" 
and, as may be seen in his polished theses on that 
subject, he very learnedly explained in what man- 
ner it had to do, not only with the beginning, but 
also with the progress and with the end of sin. 
Making allusion in another place f to this circum- 

* Ex Epist. Arm. 

-j- In his letter to Hippolytus a Collibus. 



222 THE LIFE OF 

stance and that controversy, he observes : " There 
are two stumbling-blocks against which I am soli- 
citously on my guard — not to make God the 
author of sin, and not to do away with the free- 
dom inherent in the human will; which two things 
if any one knows to avoid, there is no action he 
shall imagine which I will not most cheerfully 
allow to be ascribed to the providence of God, if 
due regard be only had to the Divine excellence." 
Shortly after the Academy had listened to his 
discussion on the subject of Divine Providence, 
Arminius, with the view of clearing himself of the 
charge of Pelagianism, produced and exposed for 
public examination, on the 23d July, his theses 
"concerning free will and its powers." In draw- 
ing up these he declared, " that his grand aim had 
been to promote the peace of the Church; that he 
had set forth nothing which bordered on falsehood, 
but, on the contrary, had suppressed several truths 
to which he was prepared to give expression, 
being well aware that it was one mode of proce- 
dure to suppress what was true, and another to 
speak what was false : the latter was in no case 
lawful ; the former, however, was sometimes, yea, 
very often, expedient."* Moreover, as he deemed 
it his duty to act cautiously, and take the utmost 

* Ex Arm. Epist. 25 Julii script. 



JAMES ARMIKIUS. 223 

possible care that the justice of his cause and the 
moderation of his spirit might commend them- 
selves to good and prudent men, he offered on 
every occasion to all who were meditating strife 
with him, what he had formerly offered to Helmi- 
chius and others — a conference, whether private 
or public, on the subject of these theological con- 
troversies. 

This method, however, was not quite agreeable 
to the adversaries of Arminius: it pleased them 
to ply him with another mode of attack. They 
sent to him, accordingly, these deputies of the 
churches of South and North Holland — Francis 
Lansbergius, Libertus Fraxinus, Daniel Dolegius, 
John Bogardus, and James Rolandus — who ar- 
rived on the 30th June, (1605.) In explaining 
to him the object of their mission, they entered 
into a narration of those things which were ex- 
tensively circulated concerning him and his doc- 
trine ; and how great was the solicitude felt by all 
the churches lest, the integrity of the Reformed 
doctrine being undermined, and the young men 
imbued with unsound opinions, this affair should 
at last eventuate in the destruction of the Church. 
They further stated that several candidates for 
the sacred office, when admitted at any time to 
examination before their Classis, gave answers 
altogether new and repugnant to the received doc- 



224 THE LIFE OP 

trine, and sheltered themselves under the authority 
of Arminius.* They then begged of Arminius 
that he would not refuse to give an explanation 
of the matter, and to enter into a friendly confer- 
ence with them. 

Arminius replied, "that this mode of procedure 
was to him in the highest degree displeasing. For 
were he to submit to it, he would be obliged very 
often to descend to conferences of this sort; nor 
would he ever be free from liability to this annoy- 
ance as often as any student in his examination, 
in giving some novel answer, should make a foolish 
appeal to the authority of his preceptor. To him, 
therefore, it appeared to be a more advisable 
course, that brethren, on hearing a novel answer 
of such a kind as seemed to be at variance with 
the Confession or Catechism of the Reformed 
Churches, ought immediately to confront that 
student with himself, he for his part being pre- 
pared, for the sake of expediting the business, to 
repair at his own expense to whatever place the 
brethren might choose." 

Not content, however, with this general answer, 
Lansbergius, in name of the rest, pressed still 
more urgently the conference proposed, when the 
subject of our memoir gave this further reply: 

* Ex Declarat. Arm. coram Ordinib. — Vide et Prsefat. Act. Synod. 
Dord. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 225 

"He did not see on what principle he could enter 
into that conference. For, seeing that they bore 
the title of deputies, and would render an account 
of their proceedings to the synod, he was not at 
liberty to enter upon this business without the 
cognizance and consent, yea, even the command, 
of those to whose authority he was subject. Nay, 
more : no trivial hazard would thence accrue to 
himself, if, whatever might at any time be reported 
to the synod, as to the issue of this conference, 
he should be obliged to commit the whole detail 
entirely to their faith. Besides, as he was by no 
means conscious of having ever taught any doc- 
trine which was antagonistic to the Sacred Writings, 
the Confession, or the Catechism, he did not see on 
what reasons this petition of theirs was grounded. 
The burden of proof devolved on those who 
asserted the contrary; or, failing proof, of confess- 
ing their fault. If, however, they were disposed 
to lay aside the character of deputies, he would 
not shrink from holding a conference about doc- 
trine with them as private pastors, and from 
descending into that arena, there and then; but 
on this condition : that whatever liberty in ex- 
pounding their own opinion, and refuting the con- 
trary, they vindicated for themselves, that self- 
same liberty should be competent to him. If in 
this way either party should satisfy the other, the 
10* 



226 THE LIFE OP 

entire business would be transacted: if it came 
short of this, it must be understood that no report 
of it shall anywhere be rendered, but that the 
whole shall be referred to a National Council." 
But at last, when he perceived that that plan and 
that condition were rejected by them, he asked 
them, as they were ready to take their departure, 
that they would propose the same conference 
which they had demanded of him, to his col- 
leagues as well, Gomarus and Trelcatius; adding, 
and adducing many reasons in corroboration of 
the statement, that he had not given greater occa- 
sion for this demand than either of them. The 
deputies then promised to comply with this re- 
quest; and having informed Arminius, some time 
after, that they had implemented their promise, 
they departed without having effected their object. 
Meanwhile Arminius could not prevent the 
circulation of very various and frequent rumors 
respecting this affair ; many in bad faith making it 
known, but suppressing all mention of his reasons 
for rejecting this conference, and of the description 
of conference which he himself had proposed. 
But these and other reasons which deterred him 
from formal conferences of that sort with synodi- 
cal deputies, he explained on a subsequent occa- 
sion much more fully and distinctly in the pre- 
sence of the illustrious States of Holland. His 



JAMES AE JUNIUS. 227 

reasons as then advanced were in substance as 
follows : 

"First, He did not reckon himself amenable to 
either Synod of Holland, South or North ; on the 
contrary, he had other masters without whose 
consent and command it would have been unlaw- 
ful in him to have engaged in such a conference. 
To this reason may be added 

"A second, namely, the great inequality of such 
a conference ; considering that between those who 
are about to confer on whatever matters, the 
utmost equality ought to subsist. For it is evi- 
dent that they came to him armed with a certain 
public authority, while he sustained the character 
only of a private individual. They were in num- 
ber several, but he stood alone ; not only destitute 
of persons to aid him, but of persons to witness 
the proceedings contemplated. Nay, more : these 
deputies were not there in their own right, but 
were obliged to hang by the judgment of their 
superiors, and defend their opinion concerning reli- 
gion to the last extremity; so much so, indeed, 
that they could not have been at liberty to admit 
the force even of the strongest arguments which 
he could have adduced. As he, on the other 
hand, stood on his own right, he was in a condi- 
tion, by bringing his conscience alone to decide, 
unfettered by the prejudgment of any one, to 



228 THELIFEOP 

admit whatever it might have declared to him, on 
demonstrative grounds, to have been in accordance 
with truth. 

"Thirdly, The report which these deputies would 
have given in to their superiors, after the confer- 
ence had been held, could not but turn out in 
many respects to his serious injury ; for, either by 
defect of understanding or of memory, or by pre- 
judiced feelings, some things might easily have 
been added or omitted, and his words might have 
been repeated either in such a sense, or in such an 
order, as altogether to contradict his sentiments, 
and the actual facts of the case; while a larger 
measure of credit would have been accorded to 
these deputies than would have been accorded to 
him, a private individual. Nay, more: in this 
way he would have conceded to this ecclesiastical 
convention a certain prerogative over him, which, 
however, in his judgment he could not rightly 
concede, consistently Avith the dignity of his office 
and the authority of those on whose power he was 
dependent."* 

Such were the reasons which induced Arminius 
to decline entering into conferences of the kind 
proposed. In what light he regarded the perverse 
machinations of certain parties at this conjuncture 

* Vid. Declarat. Arm. coram Ordinib. 



JAMES AKMINIUS. 229 

he himself thus declares in a letter to Adrian 
Borrius, of date July 25, 1605: "I see right well 
that my adversaries act in this way to raise a 
tumult in order that I, accused of being at least 
the occasion of the disturbance, may be compelled 
to rush forth from my concealment, and declare 
m} T self openly; in which event they seem to pro- 
mise themselves certain victory. But so much 
the more on this account will I keep myself at 
home, and advance those things which in my judg- 
ment may best do service to truth, to peace, and 
to the times ; although I know that they would 
be disappointed of their hope, even were I to 
declare myself openly to them. True, it is an old 
saying, that to drag a heretic or a heresy forth to 
the light, is to confute that heretic or heresy; but 
this is the boast also of those who chant p£eans 
before the victory. It were hard for them to con- 
vict of heresy those things which, with inflated 
cheeks, they vociferate to be heretical. They 
complain, I understand, that I did not declare to 
them my opinion, and the arguments on which it 
rests ; and they urge as a pretext for their com- 
plaint, that it is my intention to make an unfore- 
seen attack upon them in the National Synod, and 
to obtrude opinions upon them of which they had 
not been aware, and to confirm these by argu- 
ments, the confutation of which they shall not 



230 THE LIFE OP 

have had it in their power to premeditate. They 
think that that assembly ought to be conducted in 
the same manner as formerly; and are not aware 
that I, trusting to the goodness of my conscience 
and my cause, do not shrink from timely inquiry 
and examination, even to the most rigorous ex- 
tent." 

Meanwhile, three da} r s after penning these 
words, the Consistory of Leyden, of which he 
himself too formed a part, and was regarded as a 
member, appears to have importunately asked of 
him, at the instigation of certain zealots, a confer- 
ence respecting his religious views, not unlike 
that which the delegates of the churches had 
demanded. In name of the Consistory there 
were delegated to him, on the 28th July, these 
honorable and distinguished men, Phsedo Broek- 
hoven and Paul Merula — the one Professor of 
History, the other a burgomaster of the city of 
Leyden, and both elders of the church — who 
urged him in gentle terms that he would treat 
with his colleagues, in the presence of the Consis- 
tory, concerning those things in the received doc- 
trine to which he took exception. In this way it 
might be ascertained whether, and in what points, 
he agreed or disagreed with his colleagues and the 
other pastors of the Church. They added, however, 
that if he gave his assent to this petition, they 



JAMES ARM INIUS. 231 

would speak with others also respecting the mat- 
ter; but if not, that no further steps would be 
taken in the affair. To this Arminius replied 
almost in the same terms as he had shortly before 
employed to the deputies of the churches, namely, 
"that he could not comply with this demand with- 
out the permission of the honorable curators of the 
Academy; nor could he perceive what benefit 
would thence accrue to the Church." These rea- 
sons he followed up by others to the same effect, 
which proved thoroughly satisfactory to these two 
men; so much so, indeed, that they gave it as 
their opinion that no further proceedings should 
be taken in the matter.* 

His adversaries, nevertheless, determined in no 
respect whatever to intermit their zeal, ceased not 
to spread, and beyond measure to exaggerate, the 
rumors afloat as to the very serious dissensions 
that had arisen between the professors and the 
pastors of the Church. The result was, that the 
time being now at hand at which the annual Synod 
of the churches of North and South Holland 
respectively were wont to be held, among the 
other "gravamina"^ (as they are called) which, 



* Ex Arm. declar. coram Ordin. Vid. prefat. Act. Synod. Dord. — 
Trigtand. Hist. 

f That is, grievances, and all matters deemed important, "whether 
of the nature of grievances or not. 



232 THE LIFE OF 

according to the custom of the churches, are com- 
monly sent beforehand by the several Classes, this 
too had been transmitted by the Classis of Dort: 
"Whereas reports prevail that in the Academy 
and Church of Leyden certain controversies have 
arisen concerning the doctrine of the Reformed 
Churches, the Classis is of opinion that it is neces- 
sary that the Synod should deliberate as to the 
means by which these controversies may be most 
advantageously and speedily allayed ; in order 
that all schisms and scandals which might thence 
arise may be seasonably put out of the way, and 
the union of the Reformed Churches be preserved 
in contrariety to the calumnies of adversaries."* 
The author of the preface to the Acts of the 
Synod of Dort, in making mention of this grava- 
men, further leaves it on record that Arminius 
took it in the highest degree amiss, and left no 
pains untaken by which to get it recalled. That 
it displeased Arminius, indeed, we are not disposed 
to deny. But assuredly of any pains he took to 
get this document recalled, there exists, so far as 
we are aware, no evidence whatever. 

Be this as it may, the honorable curators of the 
Academy, and magistrates of Leyden, suspecting 
on good grounds that the above-named article of 

* Ex prefat. Act. Synod. Dord.— Uitenb. Hist. 



JAMES ARM INI US. 233 

the Classis of Dort aimed solely at this, that Ar- 
Hiinius and his followers should be impeached for 
corrupt doctrine, concentrated all their counsels 
and efforts on the one object of getting these 
schemes crushed in the bud. With this view, 
they called together the professors of theology, 
and producing the gravamen above-named, they 
put to them the question, "Whether controversies 
of that description had been observed by them?" 
To this, after they had obtained a reasonable time 
for deliberation, and had first considered the mat- 
ter among themselves, and duly weighed it apart, 
Gomarus, Arminius, and Trelcatius unanimously 
replied, and straightway (on the 10th of August) 
confirmed the reply, in its written form, with 
their respective signatures, "that they could have 
wished that the Classis of Dort had acted in this 
matter in a better and more orderly way. Among 
the students, indeed, there was, they believed, 
more disputation than was agreeable to them ; but 
among themselves, the professors of theology, 
there was no dissension, as indeed any one might 
see, in regard to the fundamentals of doctrine. 
Further, they would do their endeavor to get what- 
ever discussions of that kind had arisen among the 
students diminished." This answer was handed 
in the same day, to the Rev. John Kuchlinus, 
Regent of the theological college, who replied 



234 THE LIFE OF 

that he concurred in what had been advanced 
by the professors of theology, and subscribed the 
same declaration.* 

But on what principle Gomarus could prevail on 
himself to sign this testimony, was to not a few 
just matter of astonishment. For it was notori- 
ous that besides assailing the opinion of Arminius 
on predestination in a public and sufficiently acri- 
monious disputation, he had also, and that, too, 
repeatedly from the pulpit, exaggerated the import- 
ance of this controversy to such a degree as to 
imply that it was in his estimation fundamental.-)* 
Others, again, inferred from this act of Gomarus, 
that he was disposed at that time, notwithstand- 
ing this difference of opinion, to cultivate a true 
friendship with Arminius, and would actually have 
done so, had he not been prevented by the intem- 
perate clamors of others from prosecuting this 
aim. That Arminius also cherished the same hope 
is manifest from the following words extracted 
from a letter he addressed to Uitenbogaert, (on 
the 7th June, 1605:) "Between Gomarus and me 
there is peace; and I have reason to believe it 
will be steady enough, unless he lend an ear to 
him who seems to act only for this, that he may 
not be found to have been a false prophet. On 

* Ex gestis Acad, citatis a Bertio in Orat. Funeb. in obit. Arm. 
f Ex tractatu quodam Bertii, Belgice conscripto. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 235 

the other hand, I 'will do my best to make my 
moderation and equanimity manifest to all, that I 
may have the superiority at once in the goodness 
of my cause and in my mode of action." Nor 
must we omit in this connection what is reported 
by not a few ; namely, that Gomarus himself was 
wont at times to declare to his intimate friends 
with a feeling of regret, "that he could easily 
have been induced to cultivate peace with Armin- 
ius, but for the importunity of the churches and 
their deputies, which threw an obstacle in the way 
of this salutary desire."* 

* Ex Hist, narrat. Synod. Dord. Belg. conscript, a J. W. 



236 THE LIFE OP 



CHAPTER IX. 

ECCLESIASTICAL EXCITEMENT, AND PROCEEDINGS WITH A 

VIEW TO A NATIONAL SYNOD FRESH CALUMNIES 

AGAINST ARMINIUS. A. D. 1605-1607. 

A few weeks after the curators of the Univer- 
sity had, by convening the professors of theology, 
succeeded in maintaining academic peace, the 
Synod of South Holland, which met at Rotter- 
clam on the 30th August, 1605, proceeded to 
agitate measures in connection with this business, 
of a much more impetuous description. After the 
delegates from the Classis of Dort had put them 
in possession of the grounds on which the above- 
named gravamen had been transmitted, and the 
deputies of the Synod had in like manner made 
them aware of the state of the Ley den Academy, 
and of their interview with Arminius and the rest 
of the professors, they decided, after mature delib- 
eration, that a timely check ought to be opposed 
to this growing evil, and that the appropriate 
remedy ought not to be delayed under the uncer- 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 237 

tain hope of a National Synod. It was accord- 
ingly concluded to institute, by means of their 
deputies, a very strict inquiry into what articles 
in particular furnished matter of debate among the 
theological students in the Leyden Academy ; and 
to request the honorable curators to make it im- 
perative on the professors of theology to declare 
openly and sincerely their own opinions respecting 
the same.* 

In fulfilment of this decree, the synodical depu- 
ties, Francis Lansbergius, Festus Hommius, and 
their associates, set out for Leyden, and on the 
2d November handed in nine questions to the 
curators respecting the points which, as they 
understood, constituted at this time the main sub- 
jects of discussion. They at the same time 
requested that, in virtue of their authority, the 
curators would render it imperative on the profes- 
sors of theology fully to unfold their own opinion 
on these points. But the honorable curators 
looked upon this demand as preposterous, inas- 
much as the professors themselves had informed 
them in writing, not long before, of the state and 
weight of the controversies referred to. They 
therefore openly declared "that to this mode of 
procedure they could by no means lend their 

* Vid. prefat. Act. Synod. Dord. 



238 THE LIFE OP 

sanction;" and added, "that there was no small 
ground for the hope that a National Synod would 
be obtained; on which account they judged it to 
be more advisable to reserve these questions to it, 
than by further investigation of them to furnish 
occasion for strife."* On receiving this answer 
the deputies further insisted, that by the kind 
permission of the curators they might be at liberty 
to put these questions to the professors concerned, 
in order to discover what answers each of them 
would voluntarily and spontaneously give; but 
here they encountered the same repulse. 

All these transactions, however, were managed 
with such secrecy, as respects Arminius, that he 
was for some time ignorant of the arrival of these 
deputies in the city, and was only subsequently 
made aware of it through his friends. By the 
diligence of these friends he also succeeded in 
laying his hands upon the very questions which 
the deputies of the churches had handed in to the 
curators; and thence snatched occasion to draw 
up, for the benefit of his disciples, brief answers 
to these, and to array in opposition to them as 
many questions in return.^ 

Circumstanced as he was at such a conjuncture, 
he could not suppress his feelings, but gave vent 

* Vicl. Declar. Arm. coram Ord. 

■j- Vide sis has qusestiones et Arminii responsa in ejus Eperibus. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 239 

to them in the following complaint in regard to his 
position, which occurs in a letter to Uitenbogaert, 
dated 27th October, 1605: "How difficult is it in 
these inauspicious times, when such vehemence of 
spirit prevails, to be thoroughly devoted at once 
to truth and to peace ! Were it not that the con- 
sciousness of integrity, the favorable judgments 
of some good men, yea, and the palpable and man- 
ifest fruits which I see arising from my labors, 
reanimate my spirits, I should scarcely at times 
be able to bear myself erect. But thanks be to 
God, who imparts strength and constancy to my 
spirit, and makes me comparatively easy, what- 
ever may be the issue."* 

Notwithstanding these annoyances, Arminiusf 
strenuously discharged the duties of his office; 
and endeavored, above all, to propagate increas- 
ingly the truth, as far as known by him, without 
noise or contention, to the utmost of his power. 
For this end he made it his study, on all occasions, 
to keep himself within the terms of the Confes- 
sion and Catechism — at least, not to advance any 
thing which might be confuted by these standards, 
nay, which was not fairly and plainly reconcilable 
therewith. For although in these formularies of 
consent he had probably observed some things 

* Arm. Epist. ad J. Uitenb. 27 Octob. 1605. 
f Vid. Ep. Eccles. p. 149. 



240 THE LIFE OF 

which at times appeared to favor the sentiments 
opposed to those he had embraced, and which he 
could have wished to find expressed in terms more 
closely harmonizing with his own opinion, he yet 
thought he could continue within these terms ; 
and that, under the privilege of a mild interpreta- 
tion, he ought to soften the harshness of certain 
phrases, and wait until a fuller interpretation and 
revision should be applied to them by a National 
Synod. For he thought that he could act thus in 
the exercise of the same right as that by which 
all those followers of Calvin who were subjects of 
the Emperor of Germany judged that they could 
lawfully, and with a good conscience, subscribe to 
the entire Confession of Augsburg, and to all and 
sundry of the articles it contained.* This, how- 
ever, without the aid of a liberal interpretation, 
was more than they could well do; for between 
the Augsburg and other Confessions there was so 
great an air of contradiction that the Genevan 
divines did not think it advisable to publish them 
without the antidote of their own interpretations 
and cautions. Treading in their footprints, and 
rejoicing in the same right, he felt that he was 
doing nothing whatever unworthy of a Reformed 
divine if, for the confirmation of his own opinion 

* Vid. Epist. Examen contra Capel. in Oper. ejus i. Tom. 2 part. 
p. 168. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 241 

on Divine predestination, and other heads of the 
Christian faith, he should call to his aid not only 
the Sacred Oracles, but also the above-named 
formularies of consent. It was for this reason 
that, when about to hold a disputation at one time 
in his own regular class on the subject of predes- 
tination, he ordered the student who was to under- 
take the part of respondent to shape his theses 
on this subject in the very words of the Confes- 
sion.* 

About that, same period he held a very learned 
disputation On the Comparison between the Law and 
the Gospel, and on the agreement and difference 
between the Old Testament and the New ; the 
part of respondent, under his presidency, having 
fallen on that highly-cultivated youth, and distin- 
guished ornament at an after-period to the Leyden 
Academy and to literature, Peter Cunseus. To- 
ward the close of this disputation, some one hap- 
pened to object " that man could not but trans- 
gress the law, seeing that the decree of God, 
which determined that he should transgress, could 
not be resisted." Although Arminius was under 
the necessity of replying to this objection, yet he 
made it imperative that in future no such state- 
ment should be advanced without this or the like 



* Ex Declar. Arm. coram Ord. 
11 



242 THE LIFE OF 

protestation: Let no blasphemy be supposed! So 
offensive, moreover, was that audacious proposi- 
tion of this student of divinity to some who had 
been present at the disputation, that one of them, 
a man of no small authority, shortly after ex- 
pressed his loathing of it in the presence of 
Arminius; and gave it as his counsel that things 
of that sort ought to be checked, and authority 
interposed against such disgraceful objections. 
Arminius, however, somewhat excused the deed, 
declaring that the objector had been so instructed 
by certain divines; and that authoritative inter- 
ference was scarcely practicable, on account of 
the vehemence of some who were of a different 
mind.* 

Meanwhile he was inspired with a greatly in- 
creased measure of firmness and confidence by the 
very large number of auditors whom the singular 
grace of his style, both of speaking and teaching, 
and his lucid interpretation of the Sacred Writings, 
daily attracted to his public lectures. His private 
class, moreover, flourished at this time to such a 
degree, that one class would not have sufficed, but 
for the fear which had taken possession of many, 
that too much familiarity with him might turn 
out, at some future period, to be prejudicial to 

* Ex Epist. Arm. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 243 

their interests. Hence, as envy is proverbially 
the evil genius, for the most part, not only of 
virtue but also of genuine erudition, it can hardly 
appear surprising to any one if Arrninius, by 
reason of his daily increasing renown for learn- 
ing, was obliged, in his turn, to encounter this 
hydra. The extent, at all events, to which, in 
that particular, Gomarus shared in the infirmity 
of our common nature, may be inferred from 
this circumstance: accosting Arrninius one day 
as he was passing out of the academic hall, he 
threw this in his teeth with abundant bitterness 
and bile — "The?/ say you are more learned than 
Junius? 

About the same time, Peter Plancius, pastor of 
the church in Amsterdam, inveighed from the 
pulpit in the most virulent strain against Arrninius 
and his friends and followers, running them down 
under the name of Coornhertians, Neo- Pelagians, 
and as far tvorse than Pelagius himself. So effer- 
vescent was he, that he appeared, even to vulgar 
minds, to have excited himself into extravagance, ' 
so as to connect things together which bore to 
each other no just relation of sequence or cohe- 
rence. Others, too, after his example, either 
incensed by an inveterate hatred against Arrnin- 
ius, or impelled by the sort of pious solicitude 
with which they embraced the received doctrine, 



244 THE LIFE OF 

began to agitate before the people, in the vernacu- 
lar tongue, those questions which had furnished 
themes of more subtile disputation in the benches 
of the Academy; and this they did with egregious 
departures from the truth, and with minds as little 
as possible attuned to the work of meekly edify- 
ing the Christian people.* Some assiduously im- 
pressed it upon the promiscuous multitude that 
the doctrine of the Belgic Confession, sealed with 
the blood of many martyrs, was being called in 
question; others that a motley religion was in the 
course of being drawn up, and that it was in con- 
templation to introduce a system of libertinism. 
On the other hand, Arminius, finding himself 
under the imperative necessity of vindicating his 
own innocence, both publicly and privately, pleaded 
his cause at this conjuncture, in a remarkably calm 
and placid spirit; for (to use his own words) 
he "reckoned this to be by far the noblest kind 
of revenge, to bring it about, by means of well- 
doing, that they should have the worse who 
spurned at proffered friendship and fraternity." 
Moreover, in order to possess the minds of the 
students with the genuine love of peace, he judged 
that nothing ought more to be impressed upon 
them than that they should endeavor to distinguish, 

* Ex Epist. Arm. — Vid. Respous. ad Epist. Minist. Walackriens. p. 9. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 245 

according to the standard of the Sacred Word, 
not only between truth and falsehood, but also 
between the greater and less degrees in which 
different articles of religion are to be held as 
essential.* 

Amid all this excitement, Arminius prosecuted 
his academic prelections with unabated activity; 
and having brought to a close the exposition of 
Jonah, he entered upon a course of lectures on 
Malachi about the commencement of the year 
ensuing, 1606. 

On the 8th of February, he resigned his Rec- 
torate according to the usual order; on which 
occasion he delivered that celebrated oration on 
"Religious Dissension," in which he unfolds its 
nature and effects, causes and remedies, with such 
freedom of speech as the weight of the subject 
itself and the agitated circumstances of the Church 
seemed to require. In particular, as the remedy 
commonly considered to be the most efficacious for 
allaying theological dissensions was a convention 
of the parties at variance, (which the Greeks call 
a synod, the Latins a council^) he unfolded, on 
that same occasion, fully and piously, the princi- 
ple on which a council of the kind referred to 
ought to be constituted, so as to warrant the just 

* Ex Epist. Arm. 



246 THE LIFE OP 

and rational expectation that it will issue in 
results of the most salutary character. 

Nor could he charge himself, by any means, 
with having causelessly selected this as the theme 
of his oration; for he had long been aware that 
with the great majority of the clergy, and at this 
very time, nothing was more an object of desire 
than that the States-General should permit to be 
again summoned a National Synod, which, in 
former times, was wont to be convened once every 
three years, but had now for a very considerable 
time been suspended. For (to trace this matter a 
little farther back) it was already turned twenty 
years since the Earl of Leicester, despising, and 
all but trampling under foot, the authority of the 
fathers of our country, had ordered a council of 
this description to be convoked at the Hague. On 
that occasion, when the great body of the clergy 
had lent their most zealous aid to those who were 
hatching revolutionary schemes, and aiming a 
deadly blow at the liberty of the Dutch Republic, 
they had, not without reason, been rebuked and 
admonished by the public voice of the States, 
"that, content with having lost Flanders, by tra- 
ducing and calumniating the administration of the 
rulers, under the deceptive show of religion, and 
throwing a cloak over perfidy, they should abstain 
from bringing about the loss of Holland in the 



JAMES AKHINIUS. 247 

same way."* It was the recollection, indeed, of 
that calamitous period, and the apprehension lest, 
perchance, certain turbulent zealots, under pretext 
of religion, should attempt any thing anew that 
might detract from public authority, which long 
restrained the illustrious and mighty States from 
afterward giving their assent to the renewed peti- 
tion of the ecclesiastics for a National Synod. 
About the year 1597, however, when controver- 
sies had arisen in various places, particularly at 
Gouda, Hoorn, and Meclenblick, not only respect- 
ing Divine Predestination, but also concerning the 
authority of the Belgic Confession and Palatine 
Catechism, and the right and orthodox interpreta- 
tion of certain phrases, the States of the province 
of Holland at length took the lead in granting the 
pastors under their jurisdiction permission to hold 
a synod; for this end, in particular, "that the 
Belgic Confession of Faith should be revised, and 
that it should be carefully considered in what way, 
most fitly, according to the word of God, the true 
doctrine and concord of the Reformed Church of 
the Netherlands might be vindicated, preserved, 
and promoted, and the dissensions that had arisen 
be allayed." 

But although, so many years before the name 

* Vid. Em. Meterani Hist. Belgice conscript, et Hoofdii Hist. 



248 THE LIFE OF 

of Arminius had begun to acquire celebrity in the 
Leyden Academy, the rulers of Holland had con- 
sented to the synod, still the States of the other 
provinces resisted the project — those of Utrecht, 
being the stoutest and the longest to hold out. 
But seeing that the Dutch professors and pastors 
who differed at this time on the subject of predes- 
tination sought some support, each for his own 
opinion, in the words of the Confession and Cate- 
chism; and that these same formularies of consent 
did not define with sufficient clearness the ques- 
tions agitated on either side; and that this present 
exigency of the Reformed cause seemed, in con- 
sequence, to require a more formal convention of 
the churches, by the effort and intervention of the 
men of greatest influence (including the name of 
Uitenbogaert, as he himself cheerfully owns) it 
was brought about that these rulers of Utrecht 
also subscribed to the wish so generally enter- 
tained. Leave, accordingly, was at length ob- 
tained (on the 15th March) from the States-Gen- 
eral to convoke a National Synod on the self-same 
terms as those on which, eight years previously, 
the rulers of Holland and Westfriesland had given 
their sanction to its being held. But here is the 
very decree, in express terms : 

"The States-General of the United Provinces 
of the Netherlands, having considered arid care- 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 249 

fully weighed the reasons proposed and exhibited 
in their assembly, both orally and in writing, in 
name of the Christian Reformed churches of the 
Netherlands, in order that permission should be 
granted to them for convening a National Synod 
of the said churches on the grounds set forth 
in the written petition referred to, after mature 
deliberation, have granted permission-that it should 
be held, and by this same instrument they hereby 
grant permission. Wherefore, also, it hath pleased 
them that said National Synod be convoked in 
name of their illustrious Lords, as being the 
lawful magistrates — the protectors and defenders 
in these realms of the Christian Reformed reli- 
gion — and to whom, in consequence, that right 
belongs; and that, as soon as said illustrious 
Lords, with the pastors of churches, (whom it has 
been resolved to summon for this object on the 
very first opportunity,) shall have communicated 
among themselves, and deliberated respecting the 
mode of holding the Synod, and concerning the fit 
place and time, the said National Synod, with the 
revision of the Confession and Catechism of said 
churches, and of the ecclesiastical constitution 
heretofore in use among them, shall (as has been 
wont every time to be clone in such assemblies) 
be so instituted and conducted, in the name and 
fear of the Lord, that the fruit thence to be 
11* 



250 THE LIFE OP 

expected— namely, the confirmation of true piety 
among the inhabitants of these realms — may be 
abundantly realized. And all these things accord- 
ing to the rule and pattern of God's Sacred Word, 
to his glory, and for the safety of the Republic 
and the Church." 

We have thought it proper to introduce into 
our narrative this, the express form of the public 
decree, in order that the origin of the contentions 
with Arminius and his followers that arose re- 
specting it, and the main reason why this con- 
vention of the churches was deferred, may be the 
more readily discerned. For the deputies of the 
churches took it very much amiss, that in the 
missive containing the public decree of the illus- 
trious States special mention should be made of a 
contemplated revision of the Confession, Cate- 
chism, and ecclesiastical canons. Nay, more: even 
prior to its publication, and toward the close of 
the preceding year, (30th November, 1605,) they 
had begged, in a written petition, that the convo- 
cation of this synod should be instituted in the 
manner sanctioned by former usage and in gen- 
eral terms. They affirmed, "that by that single 
clause the entire doctrine comprehended in these 
summaries was called in question; that by this 
edict injury was done to these sacred canons of 
the Reformed faith, which were formerly received 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 251 

with so great applause; that the term revision was 
forensic, nor was the act of revision ever insisted 
on unless when the authorized sentiment was not 
acquiesced in, but rather a demand made for its 
being retracted or changed ; that by the insertion 
of the clause referred to there was reason to fear 
that those who were striving after a change of 
doctrine would be rendered more daring, and would 
conclude that power was conceded to them by 
public authority to press innovation to any ex- 
tent."* 

But a variety of reasons, on the other hand, 
and these of the gravest character, were advanced 
by not a few in vindication of the decree of the 
States. Thus it was contended, "that it was idle 
to dispute about the word revision, since, taken 
not in its forensic but in its more general accepta- 
tion, it denoted any kind of reexamination. But 
taking the word in this stricter sense, it was not 
the case that the once authorized opinion was 
always changed by revision, but, on the contrary, 
it was sometimes thereby confirmed. The illus- 
trious States of Holland had inserted in their 
decree, passed eight years before, the word re- 
sumption. In most acts of synods, even prior to 
the public decree of the year 1597, mention was 

* Vide Prsefat. Act. Synod. Dord. 



252 THE LIFE OP 

made of a repetition. Nay, more : that distin- 
guished defender of the Reformed doctrine, Cas- 
par Heidanus, was not afraid to put on the title 
of that Catechism which he published at Antwerp 
in the year 15 — , the words correction and emen- 
dation. At all events, the thing itself denoted 
by this word was of right and with good reason 
demanded by the fathers of their country and the 
supreme patrons of the Church. The Sacred 
Scripture alone was place beyond the liability of 
revision ; nor was it right to arrogate this privi- 
lege to human writings. This, Beza, Zanchius, 
Olevianus, and other leaders of the Reformed 
religion — yea, and the very authors, too, of the 
Belgic Confession — -openly professed. Even now 
there were extant, and could easily be produced, 
letters of the distinguished Saravia, celebrated 
among the original compilers of the Confession, 
who testifies that of those who applied their hand 
to this work it never came into the mind of one 
to make of it a rule of faith. In all the synods 
held in France a commencement was made by 
re-reading the Confession and soliciting expres- 
sions of opinion upon it.* The Augustan, yea, 
and the Anglican and Helvetic Confessions, had 
been changed; and much more reasonable were it 

* Press. Declar. p. 41, 42.— Vicl. Grot. Piet. Ord. p. 52. 



JAMES AEMINIUS. 253 

to try whether nothing could be amended in that 
Confession which was originally composed by no 
Synod whatever, but had been put together by 
some pious men, at a preeminently troublous time, 
in great haste, and for this end only, that it should 
serve the purpose of an apology to a hostile king. 
The same remark applied to the Catechism, inas- 
much as the very leaders themselves of the Belgic 
Church had not drawn it up, but (as is wont to be 
done in cases of sudden necessity) had borrowed 
it from others. None otherwise did the famous 
Piscator judge; for certain strictures and animad- 
versions of his on several questions of the Pala- 
tine Catechism were still extant.* Even granting 
that, after the scrutiny of forty years and more, 
nothing could be detected in the writings above- 
named which was either deficient or redundant, 
and which admitted of being expressed, if not 
more truly, at least more fitly, and in a way better 
adapted to promote ecclesiastical peace; still the 
lawful examination of them would be attended 
with this benefit, that it would be evident to 
the world that the Reformed Churches in the 
Netherlands had not slid into that form of doc- 
trine which they followed by accident or fashion, 
but in the exercise of reason and discrimination. 

* Vid. has stricturas inter Epist. Eccles. p. 166. 



254 THE LIFE OF 

At the same time they would, by an illustrious 
testimony, give publicity to the fact that these 
formularies were estimated by them at their true 
value, and not more; and, what was of prime im- 
portance, the liberty thus admitted in its own 
place and time, and restrained within the limits of 
order, would interpose an obstacle to the license 
of private contradiction." 

But these and other reasons of the like kind 
by no means availed to prevent the great mass of 
the adversaries of Arminius from vehemently 
assailing, on every opportunity, the above form 
of convening the Synod. Nay, the ecclesiastical 
deputies transmitted a copy of it, with an accom- 
panying letter, (dated 19 th April,) to the churches 
of each several province, in which they signified 
how strenuously they had exerted themselves to 
get the above-named clause omitted.* From that 
time, it began to be carped at, and to be criticized 
by the churches with more acrimony than was 
meet. Foremost, however, in zeal to take up this 
business was the Synod of South Holland, held 
three months after, in the month of August, at 
Gorcum. For when the deputies of the churches 
had reported to it what steps they had taken in 
the matter of the National Synod, and what had 

* Vid. Prasfat. Act. Synod. Dord. 



JAMES AEMINIUS. 255 

been determined by the illustrious States, it 
seemed good to this assembly to enjoin on these 
deputies, "that, duly weighing the heads of the 
public decree respecting the Synod, they should 
not only see to it that justice be done to the 
decision of the illustrious States, but should also 
take care that nothing be done to the prejudice of 
the churches." The Synod moreover declared, 
"that even if it were judged proper to revise the 
Confession and Catechism in the way and mode 
hitherto in use in a National Synod, they never- 
theless wished that those who were to be sum- 
moned to that meeting at which the place and 
manner of holding the National Synod would 
necessarily fall to be considered, should be in- 
structed to ask of the States-General, in name of 
the churches, that, for reasons above specified, the 
fore-mentioned clause be struck out of the circu- 
lars of convocation, and that other words of 
milder import, and less likely to beget offence, 
might be substituted in its place. 

This same Synod besides resolved, that injunc- 
tion be laid on all the pastors of the churches of 
South Holland, nay, also, on the professors of 
sacred literature in the Academy of Leyden, to 
peruse and examine with all diligence the Con- 
fession and Catechism hitherto in use in these 
realms. It was further matter of deliberation 



256 THE LIFE OP 

whether it would be expedient that the strictures 
of the ministers on the above-named books should 
be brought up, in the first instance, before this 
particular Synod and its deputies, or whether 
these had better be reserved to the National 
Synod.* Sufficient reasons were not wanting to 
have induced the persuasion that such anticipa- 
tory judgments of particular synods were alto- 
gether vain, and would not be free of hazard; 
and Uitenbogaert himself, in a very earnest dis- 
cussion on that subject into which he entered with 
the president of this assembly, John Becius, 
showed, in many ways, under how great difficul- 
ties that ill-timed investigation which many were 
urging did labor, and how much it militated 
against the express decree and intention of the 
States.*)* Notwithstanding all this, it was decreed 
in the same Synod, that "if, in these writings of 
the Confession and Catechism, any one had ob- 
served aught worthy of remark, he should signify 
the same, and set it forth in good and solid reasons 
and arguments, as speedily as practicable ; and that, 
if possible, before the next meeting of the Classis." 
This decision, in spite of the objections of those 
who thought it wrong that the fulfilment of that 

* Act. Synod. Gorcom. Art. 4. 

f Vid. Resp. ad Epist. Minist. Walach. p. 16. — Epist. Eccles. p 
170. 



JAMES AEMINIUS. 257 

ecclesiastical decree should be circumscribed within 
so small a portion of time, remained fixed and 
valid. By and by, too, this same Synod resolved 
to advise, by letter, the other particular churches 
and synods of the United Provinces to watch 
with all diligence over this business, the care of 
which it had itself undertaken, and to urge every 
one of the ministers of their respective Classes 
to the serious and thorough examination of the 
Confession and Catechism.* And, finally, the 
province of communicating on this subject with 
the professors of sacred literature and the regents 
of the theological college, was, in name of this 
Synod, consigned to John Uitenbogaert, William 
Coddseus, Nathaniel Marlandus, and Egbert iEmil- 
ius. 

Meanwhile, and shortly before these things were 
(with very special reference to Arminius and his 
followers) determined upon by the Synod of Gor- 
cum, the following circumstance furnished a handle 
for stirring fresh strife against him. It happened 
in the course of a disputation held under his presi- 
dency, on the subject of the Divinity of the Son, 
in which he had undertaken to defend what was 
at once the general and the orthodox opinion on 
this preeminently important doctrine of the Chris- 

* Vid. Epist. Eccles. 



258 THE LIFE OP 

tian faith, that some one of the students urged, 
in opposition to the theses he had exposed to 
public scrutiny, that "the Son of God was avrodeog, 
and therefore had his essence from himself, and 
not from the Father." Arminius replied that " the 
word avro&eog was not contained in the sacred vol- 
ume; still, considering that it had been employed 
by Epiphanius and others, of the ancient as well 
as modern orthodox divines, it was not to be 
utterly rejected, provided only it were rightly 
understood. But according to its etymology it 
might be taken in a twofold sense, to denote either 
one who is truly God, or such a one as is God of 
himself. According to the former signification, it 
could be admitted; but taken in the latter sense, 
it stood opposed to the sacred volume, and to 
orthodox antiquity." 

On the other hand, however, the student tena- 
ciously held to his point; boldly asserting that 
according to the second signification preeminently 
the term in question was applicable to the Son of 
God; and that the essence of the Father could 
not, except improperly, be said to be communi- 
cated to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; but that 
rightly and properly could it be said that the 
essence of the Father, of the Son, and of the 
Holy Spirit was common. This position, too, he 
maintained with the more confidence and spirit 



JAMES AKMINIUS. 259 

that he had as an authority for his opinion the 
celebrated Trelcatius; for in his Common-places, 
lately published, he had expounded to the same 
effect his sentiments respecting the Sacred Trinity. 
Wherefore, Arminius, deeming it his duty not to 
leave the truth unvindicated, by virtue of the 
authority of the office with which he had been 
invested, spiritedly rejoined, that "The opinion 
thus advanced was one altogether new and un- 
heard of in the ancient Greek as well as Latin 
Church. The ancients had always maintained that 
the Son had his deity from the Father by eternal 
generation. The opinion now advanced labored 
under most serious difficulties. From it there 
followed not only Sabellianism,* the Son being 
made to occupy the place of the Father, as hav- 
ing his essence from none; but it further followed 
that the way was thereby paved to Tritheism, 
and that there were just as many Gods held as 
there were collateral Persons supposed. The 
Unity in Trinity of the Deity had been main- 
tained by the ancient divines of the Church 
against anti-Trinitarians, solely on the ground of 
origin, and of order according to origin. On the 
contrary, to have deity from himself was repug- 

* Sabellius, who lived about the middle of the third century, de- 
nied all distinction of persons in the Trinity, allowing only a distinc- 
tion of modes and manifestations. — Tr. 



260 THE LIFE OF 

nant to the definition of son; and that no relation 
could be involved in any thing which was con- 
trary to the definition of that thing."* 

Thus far reasoned Arminius, who, by the pro- 
duction of these and other arguments of the same 
kind, flattered himself that he was defending the 
Catholic opinion on this question, and consulting 
best for the glory both of the Father and of the 
Son. Nay, more : he had stirred this affair with 
the greater confidence that he had rather per- 
suaded himself of the entire concurrence with 
him on this point of Gomarus, who, not long after 
the publication of the Common-places of Trelca- 
tius, had, in a public disputation, impugned his 
forms of expression respecting the Sacred Trinity, 
and further refuted his opinion in his own private 
class. Nevertheless, this very disputation of Ar- 
minius furnished fresh occasion and material for 
the unjust suspicions which malevolent parties 
entertained concerning him; and. the rumor every- 
where spread that he entertained erroneous views 
respecting the Sacred Trinity and the Divinity of 
the Son. But this he accounted his peculiar infe- 
licity; and he lamented that prejudice should 
prevail to such an extent that, if any discussion 
arose, forthwith the entire blame was heaped 

* Vide sis fusius de hoc negotio disserentem Armin. in declar. sua 
coram Ord. Item Arm. Resp. ad 31 Artie. 



JAMES AKHINIUS. 261 

upon him, even when asserting the views most 
thoroughly received; while those, on the other 
hand, were excused and commended who had 
furnished occasion of strife by their novel and 
most extravagant modes of expression. To him 
this appeared nothing less than monstrous; nor 
did there seem to exist any ground on which, in 
consequence of the above-named disputation, he 
could justly and reasonably be suspected of hatch- 
ing aught that was heretical. So far from this, 
he testifies (in one of his letters, dated 1st Sep- 
tember, 1606) that he had taught nothing what- 
ever on the doctrine in question but what rested 
on the authority of the Sacred Scriptures, and of 
the ancient as well as modern divines; and, more- 
over, that on this point there was nothing which 
he wished corrected in the opinion received by the 
Reformed Churches in the Netherlands. Nay, 
more : in this matter he could adduce as on his 
side the guide and teacher of his youth, Beza; 
who, in his preface to the Dialogues of Athana- 
sius concerning the Trinity, makes an excuse for 
Calvin for not having observed with sufficient 
accuracy the distinction between these two state- 
ments : the Son is by himself, [per se,) and the Son 
is from himself, {a se.) 

Much about the same time the subject of our 
memoir was subjected to a calumny not unlike the 



262 THE LIFE OF 

one we have just narrated. It arose from the 
following circumstance : In a public disputation 
On the person of the Son, in the course of which 
he very learnedly showed how the economy of 
our salvation was administered by the Father 
through the Son and the Holy Spirit, Arminius 
made the admonitory remark that strict regard 
ought to be paid to that order which is every- 
where observed in the Holy Scriptures; and that 
it ought to be distinctly considered what proper 
parts in that economy are ascribed to the Father, 
what to the Son, and what to the Holy Ghost. 
The spirit of detraction, besides, had gathered 
boldness from the fact that several passages of the 
Old and New Testaments usually cited in support 
of the consubstantial or coessential Trinity had 
more than once been explained by him as having 
another reference. But he trusted that it would 
be no difficult matter to persuade all who were 
capable of forming a candid judgment, that from 
such data nothing could with any semblance of 
truth be inferred that was really at variance with 
the Christian faith. For in regard to the first of 
these occasions of calumniating him,* he deemed 
it a vain handle, seeing that to all who had 
learned from the Sacred Word that the Father had 

f Vid. epist. Arm. ad Hyppol. a Collib. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 263 

in the Son reconciled the world to himself, and 
was administering through the Holy Spirit the 
word of reconciliation, it could not fail to be 
superabundantly evident that, in the scheme of 
human salvation, an order must be discerned 
among the persons of the Trinity, and care taken 
not to confound the parts severally attributed to 
them, — unless any one chooses to step into the 
heresy of the Patripassionists.* Nor, on the other 
hand, did he think that greater pains were called 
for in refutation of what was objected to him 
about explaining somewhat differently a few pas- 
sages of Holy Writ. For even if in this respect 
he had sinned, there stood convicted of the same 
crime Calvin himself, who, in this direction, had 
used great freedom, if ever man had, and yet had 
been defended by the celebrated Parseus against 
the treatise of Hunnius entitled Calvin a Judaizer. 
But what the opinion of Arminius was on the 
sacred Trinity, and how unfairly some accused 
him about that period of Arianism, Socinianism, 
and other crimes of the same description, the 
candid reader may judge for himself from his very 
scholarly theses on this article of the Christian 



* "Those who denied all distinction between the persons of the 
Trinity, were called liarpfKaaaiavdl (Patripassionists) in the west, and 
J.a t 8e/J/uav6l (Sabellians) in the east." Hagenbach's Hist. Doct. Vol. 
I. p. 245— Edinb. 1846.— Tr. 



264 THE LIFE OF 

faith. The aim and method, moreover, which, iri 
the treatment of this subject, he proposed to him- 
self, he (in his reply to the Thirty-one Articles) 
declares in the following terms: "Of those who 
know me, the most part know with how great 
fear and how anxious a* conscience I handle that 
sublime doctrine of a Trinity of Persons. How 
little, in explaining this article, I delight, either in 
inventing for myself, or in adopting as already 
invented by others, novel modes of expression, 
unknown to Scripture and orthodox antiquity, my 
entire method of teaching demonstrates. How 
cheerfully I even bear with those who speak 
differently, provided the meaning they intend be 
just, my hearers are prepared to testify." Still 
further, with the view of dissipating entirely all 
suspicion of Socinianism, he openly declared in 
the course of that period, (in a letter dated 1st 
September, 1606,) that "so far was he from being 
obnoxious to this charge, that he rather cherished 
the hope, if the Synod would only lend him a 
willing ear, of being able to contribute certain 
arguments which made for the more effectual con- 
futation of the Samosetans,* or at least for the 
more easy liquidation of their objections and rea- 
sonings." Nay, more: Arminius, as his disciple 

* Or Antitrinitarians. Paul of Samoseta held views similar to 
those of Sabellius, and lived about the same period. — Tr. 



JAMES ARM IN I US. 265 

John Narsius testifies, subjected, not long after, 
certain of the leading and most celebrated doc- 
trines of Socinus, but particularly his book Con- 
cerning the Saviour, to public and formal refu- 
tation, and that so vigorously, so elaborately, so 
solidly, that probably no one before or after him 
ever did so with more effect.* 

But, dismissing these things, let us now revert 
to the delegates of the Gorcum Synod, and to the 
part they played with Arminius and his colleagues. 
Uitenbogaert, then, having returned from the camp 
at Wesel, the four men appointed to this business 
proceeded to Leyden in the month of December, 
and having read in clue form the synodal decree 
to each of the professors, they courteously asked 
them to comply with the petition of the Church. 
Gomarus was the first on whom they waited: he 
expressed his thanks for the pains expended on 
this business, and lavished the highest laudations 
on the Synod for having consulted for the tran- 
quillity of the churches and for the maintenance 
of pure doctrine. But he declared that he felt 
reluctant to give any full or definite reply to the 
principal head of the Synod's demand, until he 
had taken counsel on this business with his col- 
leagues ; and therefore it seemed to him advisable 

* Vid. Narsii Epist. ad J. Sandium x. Sept. 1612, script, inter 
Epist. Eccles. p. 327.. 
12 



266 THE LIFE OF 

that through their Dean (Arminius) the Theologi- 
cal Faculty ought to be convened. The answer 
of Trelcatius was to the same effect. On the 
other hand, the delegates rejoined, that to sum- 
mon the Faculty just named appeared to them 
to be altogether unnecessary; and pressed them 
for a further reply. At length, having given them 
time for deliberation, they next waited on Armin- 
ius, who, after hearing their petition, with great 
confidence replied, that he "gave thanks to the 
eternal God for having suggested to the assembled 
brethren a decree of this description, so thoroughly 
salutary and Christian. He had for his part hith- 
erto given himself, and would still give himself, 
with all diligence, to the investigation of the Con- 
fession and Catechism of the Belgic churches, as 
to a duty to which he acknowledged himself 
bound not only in the name of God, but also, at 
this time more particularly, by the requirement 
of this illustrious assembly. Further, as to hand- 
ing in animadversions, if he had any such, he 
would at the fit time deliberate, and do what the 
occasion and the state of affairs would permit."* 
On receiving this answer, the delegates next told 
Arminius the suggestion of Gomarus about con- 
vening the Theological Faculty, and asked his 

* Uitenb. Hist. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 267 

mind on this matter. Arminius then inquired "if 
the Synod wished them to examine the above- 
named documents together, and at once, in full 
college assembled, and to signify to the Synod 
their opinion respecting them in name of the entire 
Faculty; or if, on the other hand, they wished 
each of the Professors to submit his opinion and 
observations singly and apart?" To this the dele- 
gates replied, that their impression was that the 
latter and not the former was the wish of the 
Sj^nod; on which Arminius straightway rejoined 
"that there was no propriety in calling the entire 
Faculty together about a business the charge of 
expediting which had been committed by the 
Synod to each of them apart." Accordingly, the 
others, his colleagues, not deeming it expedient to 
give further trouble, at length intimated, both of 
them, "that they would not fail to pay all respect 
to the petition of their brethren, and would sub- 
ject to a renewed examination those formularies 
of consent, — not as if they cherished any doubt 
concerning any article contained in them, but 
solely on the principle of complying with the 
mandate of the Synod." At last they began to 
treat with the regents also of both colleges, Peter 
Bertius and Daniel Colonius.* The former briefly 

* Bertius was the Regent of the Dutch, and Colonius of the Wal- 
loon (or French) College. — Te. 



268 THE LIFE OP 

replied "that he would yield compliance with the 
Synod's decree to the best of his ability." The 
other, however, declared, "that he would follow 
the decision decreed — or yet to be decreed — by 
the Walloon Synod." 

In the mean time the rumor of these growing 
contentions in the Netherlands reached the ears 
also of foreigners, including men of great name. 
Nor were there wanting those in France, England, 
and other countries, who expressed their solicitude 
for the peace of the Church in Holland. Deserv- 
ing of special mention on this account is that 
illustrious light of France and champion of the 
Reformed cause, Philip De Mornay, Lord of Pies- 
sis, a man most zealous, if ever man was, for the 
interests of Christianity and the promotion of 
peace. This shows itself in a brief letter written 
by that most distinguished man to the very learned 
Tilenus, on the 1st of January, 1607, in which, 
also, he introduces a reference to Arminius himself 
in the following terms, which we translate from 
the French : "As for Doctor Arminius, I have cer- 
tainly heard men the most noble and honored 
pronounce his praise in the highest and most 
cordial terms. Doctor Buzenvallius has promised 
to furnish me with that treatise, a compend of 
which you have presented in your letter. Would 
to God that each of us may contain himself within 



JAMES ARMINItJS. 269 

the bounds of Scripture, and not travel beyond it, 
that we may be able with combined energy to 
assault the idolatry, superstition, and tyranny of 
Rome ! Let us, at all events, bear with one 
another in these profound mysteries, in which 
there is always room to learn, and doubtless also 
to take exception, expound them with as scrupu- 
lous circumspection as you may. Opinions of this 
sort, accordingly, I maintain with moderation and 
sobriety; and I hold that those who propound them, 
if they only proceed in their investigation of them 
according to the rule of our religion, ought to be 
treated with prudence and lenity."* Thus far 
writes the most noble Lord of Plessis. Had his 
counsels, so singularly pacific, been only complied 
with at that time, it would certainly have fared 
better at a subsequent period with the Church and 
Academy of Holland. 

But at this critical conjuncture, when most of 
all Arminius stood in need of the counsel of 
friends, he sustained, early in the spring, a severe 
calamity in the much-lamented and premature 
decease of John Halsberg, one of the ministers 
of Amsterdam, whom for many years he had 
loved most ardently, and as if he had been a 
brother. How heavily at the time this trial 

* Vid. Epist. Eccles. p. 179, Ep. xcvii. 



270 THE LIFE OF 

pressed upon his spirits, the following words will 
show : "I had previously, indeed, (writes Arminius, 
3d May, 1607,) received intelligence of the illness 
of John Halsherg, that most eminent brother in 
Christ, and faithful friend; but the vigor of his 
nature, and the season of the year, led me to 
cherish the hope of his recovery, which made me 
the less anxious on his account. If, however, I 
could on any ground have foreboded that he was 
so suddenly to depart from this life, I should 
not have omitted to render him the last personal 
offices of Christian regard. But this God has 
not granted me; a circumstance which, over and 
above the grief I justly feel for the death of that 
most affectionate man, affects my mind in no small 
degree. But justly do you remark that he has 
gone before: we shall every one of us follow, each 
in his own order, — the thought of which is con- 
stantly impressed upon my mind by a catarrh 
which now assails me at no rare intervals, affect- 
ing sometimes the chest, and sometimes other 
internal parts. He who is ready to administer 
final judgment on all mortals has sent this as a 
warning; and thereby he orders me to moderate 
the grief I feel for the decease of my friend, whom, 
perhaps, after not many years I shall follow."* 

* Ex Epist. Arm. ad Seb. Egb. 3 Mail. 1607, script. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 271 

These words of Arniinius we the more readily 
introduce as containing not only a testimony of 
his singular affection for Halsberg, and of a friend- 
ship never interrupted by a single difference; but 
also a sort of prophecy, or rather presentiment, 
of his own death, which happened in the course 
of two years after. 



272 THE LIFE OP 



CHAPTER X. 

CONVENTION AT THE HAGUE TO AEEANGE THE PRELIMINA- 
RIES OF A NATIONAL SYNOD — MISREPRESENTATION OF 
ARMINIUS AND HIS ADHERENTS FOR THE OPINIONS THEY 
THERE EXPRESSED — HIS LETTERS TO DRUSIUS AND HYP- 
POLITUS A COLLIBUS. A. D. 1607, 1608. 

Having given these things some brief and inci- 
dental notice, let us now proceed to trace further 
the state of the agitated Church, and the progress 
of the hostile feeling of which Arminius was the 
object. Toward the close, then, of the month of 
February, the deputies of the Synods of South 
and North Holland had presented a petition to the 
States-General, in which they asked permission of 
them to hold an ecclesiastical convention for the 
purpose of paving the way to a National Synod. 
Leave was granted, and the 22d day of May was 
appointed for this convention. Premtimation hav- 
ing been given by the States-General to the States 
of the several provinces, these, each in their own 
name, summoned to the Hague certain pastors and 



JAMES AEMINIUS. 273 

doctors of more distinguished note, to obtain their 
opinions and advice as to the form and mode in 
which the Synod should be held. 

Accordingly, on the day signified by the States- 
General, the following presented themselves at the 
Hague: From Guelderland, John Leo and Fon- 
tanus; from Holland, Doctors Gomarus and Ar- 
minius, together with John Becius, Uitenbogaert, 
Helmichius, and Hermann Gerharcls; from Zea- 
land, Hermann Faukelius and Henry Brandius; 
from the province of Utrecht, Everard Boot, and 
Henry Jansen the younger; from Friesland, Sy- 
brandus Lubberti and John Bogermann; from 
Overyssel, Thomas Goswinus; and by and by, 
also, from the city of Groningen and from Ame- 
lanclt, John Acronius and J. Nicasius. To these 
the illustrious States immediately submitted in 
writing eight questions relating to the proper 
order and mode in which the Synod should be 
held, with the request that after due consideration 
they would hand in their opinions, also in writing, 
and that too, if possible, with one consent; but 
that, failing this, each should draw out his own 
opinions apart. In the discussion and examina- 
tion of these questions (which Uitenbogaert, in 
his Ecclesiastical History, has narrated at large) 
several days were consumed in the Presbytery 
Hall, at the Hague. After a variety of debates 
12* 



274 THE LIFE OP 

on one side and the other, it was at last unani- 
mously agreed and declared, "that, in regard to 
the time, it was necessary that the Synod should 
be convoked as nearly as possible at the beginning 
of the following summer, in the year 1608. With 
respect to the place, that the most convenient 
locality for holding the Synod would be the city 
of Utrecht. With respect to the mode, that the 
gravamina to be treated of in the Synod be re- 
ported by the several Provincial Synods to the 
National one; that for each particular Synod four 
pastors, with two elders, be deputed, by vote; 
but that men distinguished for erudition, theologi- 
cal attainment, and piety, might be deputed in 
place of elders, although not invested with eccle- 
siastical office; that to this Synod there should be 
invited not only the churches in the United Pro- 
vinces that speak the two languages, (Dutch and 
French,) but those also of the Dutch nation which 
are dispersed beyond the Dutch confines, or are 
congregated for themselves under the cross of 
persecution elsewhere; that their High Mighti- 
nesses, the States-General, be humbly requested 
to send to the contemplated Synod delegates of 
their own, professing the Reformed religion, who 
might be willing, in their name, to take cognizance 
of its order; that professors of theology be also 
called to that Synod; and that, in addition to 



JAMES ARMINITJS. 275 

those who are to be delegated by the churches, it 
be allowable for other ministers to be present at 
this Synod, in accordance with the usual practice 
in particular Synods."* 

But while on these and some other points there 
was unanimous consent, on certain other questions, 
on which the hinge of the matter turned, there 
was a conflict of opinion. 

First, a debate was stirred respecting the judge 
of controversies on points of doctrine: that is to 
say, whether it should be the prerogative of the 
few ministers deputed by the churches to deter- 
mine doctrinal controversies by a peremptory 
decision; or whether, prior to that decision by 
which all the ministers (if they wish to retain 
their office) should be bound to stand or fall, the 
deputing ministers also should not be informed, 
heard, and their votes, too, asked respecting the 
point in debate. For the former opinion, declared 
the greater part of the brethren; but for the lat- 
ter, Arminius and Uitenbogaert, and with them 
the deputies from the province of Utrecht, — main- 
taining, as they did, that by the name Synod 
ought to be understood, not those delegated only, 
but also, and much more, the parties delegating.-)* 

A second point of difference concerned the rule 

* Vid. Prajfat. Act. Dord. Synod. — Uitenb. Hist. p. 349. 
f Vid. Epist. Eccles. p. 193. 



276 THE LIFE OF 

according to which it was right that the determina- 
tion should be made. This was occasioned by 
the sixth question proposed by the States, viz., 
"Whether it was not right that those to be dele- 
gated to the Synod should be bound to express 
their own opinion freely, and not be held to any 
thing save the Divine Word alone ?" To this ques- 
tion, Arminius, and those who adhered to him, 
directly answered, It is right. But in this reply 
the other brethren by no means acquiesced. For 
although they did not venture to deny that the 
Divine Word was the test of doctrinal controver- 
sies, still, suspecting I know not what snake to 
lurk under that question of the States, before 
hazarding their own reply to it, they stirred a 
further question with Arminius and the others, 
namely, whether the arbiters of controversy should 
reckon themselves so bound to the Word of God 
as not to be at liberty to appeal, at the same time, 
to the Confession of the Belgic churches ? To 
which, in name of his party, Arminius replied, 
"that he, for his part, acknowledged and received 
the Confession as a formula of consent, but not as 
a rule of faith; so that if it, or any part or parti- 
cle of it, should chance to come upon the anvil of 
discussion, no regard whatever ought to be had to 
it, while subjected to this trial, but the judgment 
respecting it, too, ought to be drawn from the 



JIMB'S AEMixrus. 277 

Word of God alone. Nay, more: judges of this 
description, that they may be able to pronounce 
sentence with the more freedom, ought to be 
released entirely, during that judicial process, 
from the subscription by which they had once 
bound themselves; but with this express stipula- 
tion and caution, that meanwhile, throughout the 
course of such investigation and trial, it be allowa- 
ble for no one in the Church or Academy to 
advance any thing, in public or private, which may 
contravene the Confession." 

Thirdly, and finally, with reference to the ques- 
tion which the States had couched in these general 
terms, "What further may it be expedient to do 
in regard to the convocation x>f a National Synod, 
that the most salutary results may thence accrue 
to the Church ?" The most of the brethren were 
of opinion that the Belgic Confession and Cate- 
chism might be revised, indeed, in the Synod, if 
the Synod itself, for just reasons, deemed this 
necessary; but that the States be requested to 
strike out of their circular of citation, for the sake 
of the tranquillity of the churches, that clause 
concerning revision, which seemed to give offence 
to some, and a license of innovating to others; 
and that these, or some such words, be substituted 
in its place : That a Synod be convened for the 
confirmation, harmonious reception, and propaga- 



278 TItELlfEOP 

tion of the pure and orthodox doctrine; for pre- 
serving and establishing the peace and good order 
of the Church; and, in fine, for promoting true 
piety among the inhabitants of these realms." 

In defence of this opinion many reasons were 
advanced, which, when others tried to repel, ad- 
ducing several arguments to the contrary, on the 
ground of which it appeared to them that no 
alteration whatever ought to be made in the cir- 
cular referred to, by and by the question began to 
be mooted and discussed concerning the necessity of 
revision itself ; Arminius, Uitenbogaert, and the 
two Utrecht ministers maintaining the affirmative, 
while the rest thought that this should be left for 
the Synod itself to determine. The greater part 
exclaimed, "that the doctrine of the Reformed 
Church, sanctioned by the support of so many 
most weighty men, and sealed with the blood of 
so many thousands of martyrs, would, by an in- 
vestigation of this sort, be called in doubt; and 
that this would give rise, not only to tumults and 
stumblings, yea, and shipwreck of consciences, 
within the Church, but also to calumnies and 
reproaches beyond its pale." To these reasons, 
moreover, they added certain offensive eulogiums 
of the books, the revision of which they were 
discussing, which came little short of a supersed- 
ing of the Sacred Scripture. Gomarus declared 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 279 

"that he received the Word of God, indeed, as 
the primary rule of faith, but the Confession and 
Catechism for the secondary rule." In this state- 
ment, J. Bogermann, minister of the church at 
Leeuwarden, also expressed his concurrence, and 
did not hesitate, on the same occasion, repeatedly 
to declare "that the Sacred Scriptures ought to 
be interpreted according to the Confession and 
Catechism."* How completely these words (to 
be attributed to undue heat of debate, and not 
approved of by all his own party) tore up the 
basis of the entire Reformation, and ran foul of 
the seventh article of the Belgic Confession itself, 
was enough, and more than enough, demonstrated 
by Arminius and his friends. They further stren- 
uously contended for the revised decided upon by 
the States; urging on a variety of grounds how 
accordant this was to reason, and how necessary, 
moreover, as matters then stood. 

Arminius, in particular, maintained this position, 
and vigorously defended it against the objections 
of brethren. "For as to what was advanced 
about the danger of doctrine being called into 
doubt, this," he contended, "was in the highest 
degre? offensive; seeing that the thing to be dis- 
cussed was not the Sacred Text, but a human 

* Vid. lib. cuititulus, Orig. et Progress. Ecclesiastic. Dissid. in 
Belg. Belgice script, p. 19. 



280 THE LIFE OP 

composition, which contained errors, and might 
therefore justly and properly be tried by the 
touchstone of heavenly truth. It was to no pur- 
pose to obtrude the authority of divines and mar- 
tyrs. For, besides that it was possible for even 
them also to have erred, a distinction must be 
maintained between the different things which the 
Confession of the Belgic churches contains. For 
some things are to be referred to the foundation 
of faith and of salvation, but other things are 
reared on that foundation, and therefore, of them- 
selves, are not indispensably necessary to eternal 
life. The former, it is true, had been approved 
by the unanimous consent of all the Reformers, 
and confirmed by the martyrs' blood; but not by 
any means the latter : nay, in regard to these con- 
troversies, at present in agitation, no one of the 
martyrs probably was ever asked his opinion. 
The fear, too, that disturbances would perhaps 
arise from the revisal referred to, was one to 
which divines truly Reformed ought to attach no 
great importance. For, this reason admitted, it 
was then with the best right that the Papists for- 
merly left no stone unturned, with the view of 
preventing the doctrine received in the Chureh for 
so many centuries back from being called into 
doubt, and subjected to fresh examination. Nay, 
more: if Luther, Zwingle, and the other leaders 



JAMTES ARMINIUS. 281 

of the Reformed Church, had attributed so much 
weight to considerations like these, they would 
never have addressed themselves to a work of 
such great difficulty, and so full of danger, as the 
Reformation, and to the serious investigation of 
the Popish doctrine."* 

The matter having thus been fully argued on 
both sides, the great majority of the Convention 
persisted not the less in harping every now and 
then on that one string, namely, the offence which 
they declared there was reason to apprehend from 
the insertion of the fore-named - clause in the let- 
ters of citation, till at last Arminius, and those 
who adhered to him, desirous of gratifying the 
rest, and more solicitous about the thing itself 
than the formality, as they called it, gave their 
consent to the omission of the clause, only that 
this should be clone without implying the omission 
of the revisal itself. 

These deliberations being ended, and all results 
collected, a document was drawn up, and signed 
by the hands of all, embodying both the opinions 
in which they agreed, and the opinions in which 
they differed, which was presented on the first of 
June to the assembly of the States : appended 
was a declaration, on the part of all, that they 

* Vide sis has rationes fusius postea ab Arminio deductas in Declar. 
sua coram Ord. 



282 THE LIFE OP 

were ready at the will and command of their 
High Mightinesses to explain more at large their 
opinions briefly exhibited in that document, and 
to fortify them with the reasons on which they 
respectively depended. 

Before taking leave of this ecclesiastical con- 
vention, I must by no means here omit to state 
that a certain sinister rumor concerning Arminius, 
occasioned by the holding of this conference, 
spread out far and wide, to the effect that he had 
been entreated, with the utmost importunity, by 
the brethren then assembled, that he would not 
hesitate to unfold freely those things which he 
had meditated in the matter of the Christian faith, 
with the promise that they would do their endea- 
vor to get him fully satisfied; but that this he 
had in a tone of sufficient boldness refused.* As 
this story stirred against him a very bad feeling 
in the minds of many, who thought that he ought 
to have paid greater honor to that Conference, 
convened as it was from all the provinces at once, 
we think it well to trace from a point a little far- 
ther back the character of this whole affair, and 
the transaction as it really happened, according to 
the account given by Arminius himself. 

Some time, then, before the subject of our me- 

* Vid. Praefat. Act. Synod. Dord. — Baudart. monum. Hist. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 283 

moir, agreeably to the summons of the States- 
General to attend the Conference, had presented 
himself at the Hague, he happened accidentally 
to lay his hand on five articles, viz.: Concerning 
Predestination, the Fall of Adam, Free Will, Origi- 
nal Sin, and the Eternal Salvation of Infants. 
These had been sent into other provinces also, but 
especially into Zealand and the district of Utrecht; 
yea, and had been discussed at some ecclesiastical 
meetings, in terms which implied that, on those 
heads of doctrine, they contained the sentiments 
of Arminius himself. But scarcely had he perused 
them, when he immediately felt assured he had 
detected their author — one, namely, of the num- 
ber of those whom the rulers had summoned to 
that same Conference with himself. Deeming it 
proper to deal with him on the subject at that 
very time, he freely signified to him on what 
grounds he suspected that those articles had been 
drawn up by him. This imputation the individual 
referred to did not deny, but declared that they 
were by no means sent as importing that they 
contained the opinions of Arminius himself, but 
simply as articles which furnished matter for dis- 
putation among the students at Leyden. Armin- 
ius rejoined that by this circumstance, notwith- 
standing, serious injury was done to him and to 
his reputation; nor could it otherwise than hap- 



284 THE LIFE OF 

pen that articles of this kind, everywhere in cir- 
culation, would be attributed not so much to the 
students as to himself; when the truth was, that 
they had neither emanated from him, nor did they 
accord with his sentiments on the points concerned, 
nor with the Sacred Scriptures. 

After these things had passed between them, 
(two only of the other brethren being present,) Ar- 
minius further judged it proper, toward the close of 
this convention at the Hague, when all were pre- 
sent, to introduce the matter, especially as some 
were present at this convention who had not only 
read those articles, but who were under the im- 
pression that they were the production of Armin- 
ius himself. Accordingly, when the proceedings 
of this assembly had been already signed — nay, 
after certain had been deputed to report their 
transactions to their Mightinesses the States — he 
begged the brethren to do him the favor to remain 
for a little on his account, as there was a matter 
on which he wished to have some conversation 
with them. He straightway produced the above- 
named articles, and having read them, he pro- 
ceeded in strong terms to complain of the injury 
clone to him by their circulation; adding, that he 
protested solemnly, and as in the presence of the 
Supreme Majesty, that these articles were by no 
means his, nor did they express his opinions. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 285 

This he repeated twice, and moreover entreated 
his brethren that they would not attach such 
immediate faith to rumors set afloat respecting 
him, and be so ready to admit things which were 
falsely laid to his charge. To this, a member of 
the conference on his own account replied, "that 
for that end he would do well to signify to his 
brethren what in these articles he approved, and 
what he rejected, that thus they might to some 
extent be made aware of his opinions;" and some 
other one followed in the same strain. Arminius, 
however, replied that this did not appear to him 
to be advisable, nor was it obligatory upon him, 
seeing that this conference had been appointed for 
no such end; not to mention that time sufficient 
had been expended on this assembly, and that the 
States themselves were expecting their reply. 
On saying this, the conference was straightway 
brought to a close, no one seeking to follow up 
the conversation any farther, nor all assembled 
simultaneously agreeing in that ■ request, or using 
any persuasion with him, to undertake such a 
task. Nay, more: after the conference was over, 
some of the brethren declared in the presence of 
Arminius himself, that they had been charged by 
their churches not to enter on any discussion con- 
cerning doctrinal controversies, and, should any 



286 THE LIFE OP 

thing of the sort happen, to quit the conference 
as soon as possible.* 

But further, after the holding of this conven- 
tion, calumny heaped fresh charges on Arminius, 
and on those who, sharing in his opinion, had 
freely spoken their minds as to the proper way in 
which the Synod should be held. They were 
represented as having sought, by these dissentient 
counsels, to interpose fresh delay in the way of 
the Synod's being held, and to pave the course 
directly for bringing about a revolution in doctrinal 
sentiment. Some made them out to be guilty of 
having got inserted in the public decree the condi- 
tion concerning the revisal of the Confession and 
Catechism. More roughly handled than all were 
Arminius and Uitenbogaert, whose names, and 
whose very free expression of sentiment, accord- 
ing to the license granted to them by the States, 
were most acrimoniously animadverted on by the 
Synod of North Holland, which met shortly after 
at Amsterdam.f Nay, as if all this were not 
enough, Sybrandus Lubberti, a professor in the 
Franeker University, dispatched letters to Scot- 
land, Germany, and France, asking advice of these 
foreigners, which contained a colored and garbled 
account of what had been transacted at the pre- 

* Ex Arm. Declar. coram Ord. 

f Trigland. Hist. Eccles.— Uitenb. Hist. 



JAMES AKMINIUS. 287 

vious Convention; thereby exerting himself to 
preoccupy their minds with a violent prejudice 
against Arminius and Uitenbogaert.* To this doc- 
ument the accused party felt constrained, in course 
of time, to oppose another, to vindicate among 
these foreigners the innocence of their good name 
against the detractions of adversaries .f 

The Synod of South Holland, too, held at Delft 
in September following, embarked in the same 
business with sufficient animosity. Some of its 
proceedings, as far as the scope of the present 
narrative may require, I will here briefly and sum- 
marily recount. At this Synod, then, Uitenbo- 
gaert was called upon to explain to its assembled 
members the reasons why, in giving advice as to 
the mode of holding the National Syr#/4, ne ? along 
with Arminius, had thought and counselled differ- 
ently from the other pastors; in order that the 
Synod, after giving them due consideration, might 
be able to judge whether thereby, also, any pre- 
judice had been done to the church. But Uiten- 
bogaert immediately replied, " that he, for his part, 
was ready to communicate to the Synod the opin- 
ions which had been delivered to the States; but 



* Vid. literas S. Lnbberti huic fini scriptas inter Epist. Eccles. p. 
187. 

f Vid. Epist. Arm. et Uitenb. Sybrandiante oppos. inter Ep. Eccles. 
p. 190. 



288 THE LIFE OP 

to render reasons for them in this place, when 
those who had given expression to the same opin- 
ions with him were neither present nor consulted, 
appeared to him altogether unadvisable. More- 
over, he and his associates in that Convention 
were by no means bound by the mandate of any 
particular Synod, but had been summoned by the 
States of Holland themselves, to bring out their 
opinions freely and according to the dictate of 
conscience : to the States, therefore, with the best 
right must the reasons of these opinions be rendered. 
It was to no purpose, accordingly, and quite out 
of place, for this assembly to take upon itself to 
judge in respect to that matter : rather ought the 
brethren to take care, and strive by all means, to 
prevent svtfk very hasty judgments — which also 
tended to the most serious prejudice of the 
Supreme Authority — from compromising the in- 
terests of the churches; and to take care that 
such proceedings do not interpose fresh obstacles 
to obtaining the Synod, so long desired."* Vari- 
ous discussions ensued concerning this affair; as 
also, on the same occasion, concerning the right of 
the magistrate in things pertaining to religion. At 
last the Synod thought that it would be sufficient 
in the circumstances, if the opinions presented to 

* Vid. prsefat. Act. Synod. Dord. — Uitenb. Hist. 



JAMES AK MINI US. 289 

the States were merely read to it, and full judg- 
ment in regard to them deferred until the argu- 
ments for the dissentients' opinions, yet to be 
delivered to the States, should be more clearly 
made known to them. 

The affair being thus disposed of, the assembly 
forthwith decided, in terms of the decree of the 
last Synod held at Gorcum, to press the inquiry, 
if some animadversions on the Confession and 
Catechism had not been presented to the classes. 
It was replied by some of the classical deputies, 
that most of the ministers in their respective classes 
had declared that they had no remarks to make in 
opposition to these writings; and that in their judg- 
ment they were sound throughout, and in harmony 
with the Sacred Volume — nay, even, "that they 
were prepared to live and to die with the Confes- 
sion and Catechism." On the other hand, Uiten- 
bogaert and others, in name of their respective 
classes, intimated that there were amongst them 
those who were as yet seriously engaged in the 
examination demanded, and that they would de- 
liver their animadversions at the proper time.* 
Immediately snatching occasion from this to get 
proceedings originated against Uitenbogaert, the 
president of the Synod asked him whether he, too, 



* Vid. Press declar. Cpntrarem. oppos. p. 32. 
13 



290 THE LIFE OP 

cherished any scruples against these books; on 
which, lest he should app&ai* to call in question 
any main points of the Christian doctrine, yea, 
and of the Reformed Confession,* Uitenbogaert 
spontaneously and candidly declared "that he ap- 
proved of the Confession and Catechism as far as 
concerned the substance and basis of doctrine: he 
held that the fundamentals of salvation were 
sufficiently contained in them; and these formula- 
ries, as far as they agreed with the Harmony-)- of 
the other Protestant Churches, had his entire 
assent."J Many joined in this sentiment, and 
expressed their concurrence in his statements, 
being desirous of nothing more than that ecclesias- 
tical affairs should be conducted calmly and peace- 
ably until the National Synod. To ihe suspicious 
mind? of some, however, this declaration was by 
no means satisfactory; but they further asked "if 
whatsoever things were contained in the Confes- 
sion and Catechism were, s-s " oects substance, 



* This noble-minded man, as the elder Brandt informs us, gave the 
president distinctly to understand that he answered his question ex 
ffralia, and not at all as being under obligation to do so; and that he 
declared the question to be "unseasonable, unprofitable, and a kind 
of inquisition." See Ger. Brandt's Hist. Reform, in Low Countries, 
vol. ii. p. 43.— Tk. 

f See Confessionum Fidei Harmonia Orthod. et Ref. Eccl. etc. 
Geneva, 1581.— Te. 

% Vid. Uitenb. Hist. Eccles. — Press, declar. Rernonst. p. 32. Respons. 
ad Epist. Wallach. p. 17. 



JAMES AEMINIUS. 291 

words, phrases, and whatever else of that descrip- 
tion, believed to be conformable to the Divine mind 
or not?" To this Uitenbogaert and the others 
replied "that a declaration of that sort could not 
be made in a moment, and that to settle this mat- 
ter aright, a reasonable space of time was requi- 
site;" on which the Synod at length decided by a 
plurality of votes to charge all the ministers, and 
even the professors of theology, that, laying aside 
all subterfuges, tergiversations, and delays, "they 
would attentively examine every thing contained 
in the above-named writings, both as regards sub- 
stance and as regards words and phrases; and 
each deliver to his own Classis, as speedily as pos- 
sible, whatever remarks he might have to offer in 
opposition to the received doctrine."' 7 ' 

Nor was this all. Proceeding yet farther, the 
Synod, under the pretext that dissensions were 
growing daily and demanded an immediate rem- 
edy, at the same time decreed "That their High 
Mightinesses, the States of Holland and West 
Frieslancl, be requested 1 giant it permission to 
convoke from the two Synods of South and North 
Ho 7 Provincial Synod, by which the pro- 

fessors ology who were to be cited, and such 

of the Ministers of religion as it may seem neces- 

* Act. Synod. Delft. Ait. 3. 



292 THE LIFE OP 

sary to the Church to summon, should, on the 
first opportunity, be brought together to a friendly 
conference on all those heads of doctrine in regard 
to which they cherished doubt; that in this way 
a judgment might be formed by the churches as 
to the nature and magnitude of the controversies, 
and as suitable a remedy as possible devised for 
allaying dissensions and preserving integrity of 
doctrine."* But this decision and decree, as it 
mightily pleased many, so it very highly offended 
others, and exposed its framers and authors to the 
suspicion of stepping, under the guise of holding 
this assembly and conference, into the place of a 
National Synod, and of exerting themselves to 
forestall its judgment and sentence. Nay, some 
thought that by this same decree the act of the 
States in regard to the lawful revision of the Con- 
fession and Catechism, and their right and author- 
ity to summon a National Synod in their own 
name, were very seriously infringed; and that this 
was done with the sole intent that those whom 
this ecclesiastical tribunal, after hearing their rea- 
sons, might have accused of heterodoxy, should 
henceforth be held disqualified to enjoy the right 
of voting in the National Synod. This undoubt- 
edly entered into the grounds on which the clepu- 

* Act. Synod. Delft. Art. 4. 



JAMES AEMINIUS. 293 

ties of both Synods, who petitioned the States for 
leave to carry their decisions into effect, were 
balked of their wish. For, on the 14th of Sep- 
tember, they received the reply "that, considering 
the many difficulties with which this matter was 
beset, and the very grave political business which 
distracted the States at the time, it was impossible 
for them, in present circumstances, to comply with 
the request of the churches; but at their own 
time, and when opportunity offered, they would 
take the matter into consideration: they further 
instructed the deputies of the churches to exert 
themselves meanwhile to the utmost for the pro- 
motion of ecclesiastical tranquillity; and they 
would, besides, see to it that ministers of the 
opposite sentiment should be admonished of the 
same duty."* 

In the mean time, Arminius and Uitenbogaert 
were warned on all sides of the grievous extent 
to which, both in Holland and in the adjacent 
regions, they were everywhere maligned — partly 
by clandestine whispers, partly by reports openly 
circulated among the people — on account of the 
opinions they had expressed as to how the Synod 
should be held. They judged it by no means 
their .duty to sit silent under all this: on the con- 

* Trigland. Hist. Eccles. p. 413. 



294 • THE LIFE OP 

trary, as a satisfaction clue to their own character, 
they (on the 6th September) delivered to the 
Grand Pensionary of llolland, for presentation to 
the States, their reasons for their opinion, and for 
the advice they gave, drawn up in writing, and 
signed also by the two delegates from Utrecht. 
They moreover declared, that of nothing were 
they more desirous than that the rest of the 
brethren also should produce their reasons for the 
different opinions they advanced; and that thus, 
in regard to this matter, and the holding of the 
Synod, their High Mightinesses could give such a 
decision as would be most conducive to the good of 
the Church.* To the attainment of this wish, 
however, an obstacle was presented by the public 
deliberations respecting the armistice, the discus- 
sion of which so engaged the States as to leave them 
scarcely any leisure for these ecclesiastical affairs.f 



* Videsis integrum hoc Scriptum in Hist. Uitenbog. 

f The deliberations here referred to were of the very gravest char- 
acter, and proved the source of that alienation between the ambitious 
Prince Maurice and the incorruptible Oldenbarneveldt, which caused 
the latter ere long to lose his head. Maurice was opposed to the truce. 
Oldenbarneveldt, knowing his ulterior designs against the new-born 
liberties of Holland, promoted it in the face of storms that thickened 
around him from every side. His resolute patriotism at length tri- 
umphed iu the famous truce of twelve years concluded with Spain in, 
1609, on terms deeply humiliating to the haughty Spaniard and advan- 
tageous to the Dutch — the fame of whose counsels and arms resounded 
throughout Europe. See Davies's Hist. Holland, vol. ii. p. 432.— Tb, 



JAMES AEMIXIUS. 295 

It was in allusion to this that the illustrious 
Philip Mornay declared at the time "that he very 
much wished that an armistice could be concluded, 
in respect to the growing contentions in the Ley- 
den Academy; for, as the times were, nothing 
could fall out more unseasonable than these."* 

Still further material and occasion for these dis- 
sensions were furnished by a little book published 
in the course of that year (1G07) at Gouda, 
intended for the religious instruction of youth, 
and afterward known under the name of the 
Gouda Catechism. This little work was composed 
by the pastors of the Church in Gouda for the 
purpose of testing whether it could be turned 
by the authorities to the use of the elementary 
schools, and substituted in the place of the Palatine 
Catechism, which, in their judgment, contained 
questions too difficult, and couched in ambiguous 
terms. f 

iso sooner had that composition seen the light, 
than very diverse opinions began to be expressed 
in regard to it. Those who sided with Arminius 
praised the little work, partly because its authors, 
treading in the steps of the Palatine divines in 
respect to its general order, seemed to have 
advanced nothing whatever repugnant to the 

* In Epist. ad F. Aersseniurn, inter Epist. Eccles. 
f Fusius de hoc libello Uitenb. in Hist. Eccles. 



296 THE LIFE OP 

Christian doctrine ; partly also, and on this ac- 
count mainly, that the composition referred to, 
foreclosing all scope for the introduction of thorny 
and disputable points, and breathing the primeval 
simplicity of Christianity, embraced in few words, 
and these, too, deduced from the sacred page, the 
things to be believed. 

But immediately some arose from among the 
opposite ranks who publicly condemned and exe- 
crated the book, and declared that there scarcely 
ever was a monstrous opinion but what was veiled 
in terms as general as itself was horrid ; that sim- 
plicity suited primitive times, when evils as yet 
unknown required no antidote, but that afterward, 
as errors increased, forms of words had to be de- 
vised which might ferret out errorists from their 
lurking-places; that this little book either did 
away with or omitted the primary doctrines of 
the Christian faith ; that a signal was thereby 
given to those desirous of innovation; and that 
Servetus himself would have cheerfully subscribed 
it,* 

Thus what 'the former called in harmony with 
heavenly truth, the latter called the lurking-place 
of heresies : what the former called liberty, the 
latter called disorder. 

* Grot. Annual, p. 555 in fol. — Vid. S. Lubberti Epist. ad Olden- 
barneveld. inter Epist. Eccles. p. 215. 



JAMES A R JUNIUS. 297 

Nor was this all. Against this little book Rey- 
ner Donteklok took occasion to brandish his pen ; 
tfncl in a published treatise he not only addressed 
himself to the confutation of this small work of 
the Goucla divines, but also, at the instigation of 
certain malevolent parties, traduced with sufficient 
virulence those who had thought differently from 
others as to the mode of holding the Synod ; and, 
moreover, in no oblique terms, and all but pointing 
at him with his finger, he insinuated that Arminius 
had a hand in drawing up this catechism. But 
although to the publication of it Arminius had no 
great objection, and afterward owned that the 
Goucla ministers had consulted him prior to issuing 
it, and that, after they had explained the reasons 
why they thought it should be published, he had 
expressed his concurrence, nevertheless, to that 
composition he never applied a hand, nor had any 
share in the drawing of it up. Nay, more: so far 
as his choice, and that of some others, was con- 
cerned, this little book would have lain long 
enough unnoticed, had not the intemperate clamors 
of many magnified it into an importance greater 
than was clue.* 

Calumny, however, overstepping even these 

* Vid. Examen. Catech. Goud. a R. Donteklok, Belgice conscript. 
1607, pag. 3, 5, 8, 9, 10.— Arm. Epist. ad C. Vorst, Kal. April, 
1G09. 

13* 



298 THE LIFE OF 

limits, and spurning all restraints of humanity, put 
in circulation, at this same time, a most foul report 
concerning Arminius and Uitenbogaert, namely, 
that the Roman Pontiff, in a most gracious letter 
which he wrote to them, and holding out the hope 
of a large emolument, had commended to them the 
advocacy of the Church of Rome.* How very 
;: T? this was from even the semblance of truth, 
wit] yet more clearly appear from the subsequent 
taread of our narrative. But this magnificent lie 
was accompanied by another which was put in 
circulation about the same time, namely, that 
Arminius was in the habit of commending to his 
students, as of prime importance, the writings not 
only of Castellio and of Coornhert, but also of 
Suarez and other Jesuits, and of speaking in con- 
temptuous terms of the works of Calvin, Beza, 
Martyr, Zanchius, Ursinus, and other eminent 
divines of the Reformed Church.-j- 

These, and many more calumnies of the same 
kind, which were scattered far and wide regarding 
him throughout Germany, France, England, and 
Savoy, Arminius received with no other emotion 
than that of pity for brethren who sinned so 
grievously against God and their neighbor. Nay, 
he thought, as he himself testifies, that by this 

* Ex Epist. Ai'topiei Uitenb. Histor. Eccles. inserta. 
f Vid. prsefat. Act. Synod. Dord. 



JAMES AEMINIUS. 299 

prodigious ado, and by the preposterous diligence 
of brethren, "it would only turn out that he, 
a poor obscure man, who was not able by his 
own virtues to push himself into notice, and of 
whom otherwise scarcely any out of Holland 
would either know any thing, or deign to speak, 
would day by day be rendered notable and re- 
nowned."* 

How inconsistent with truth that allegation was, 
as to his having recommended writers of question- 
able note, (which was reported, as elsewhere, so in 
particular at Amsterdam,) I prefer to state in his 
own words rather than in mine. Mark these 
expressions of his which he penned to the chief 
magistrate of Amsterdam, (Sebastian Egberts :) 
"The rumor about my advising the students to 
read the works of the Jesuits and of Coornhert, 
I can call by no other name than a lie; for never 
to any one, either by request or spontaneously, 
have I uttered a word on that subject. So far 
from this, after the reading of Scripture, which I 
strenuously inculcate, and more than any other, 
(as the whole Academy, yea, the conscience of 
my colleagues will testify,) I recommend that the/ 
Commentaries of Calvin be read, whom I extol in 
higher terms than Helmichius himself, as he owned 

* Ex Epist. Arm. ad Dims. 



300 THE LIFE OF 

to me, ever did. For I affirm that in the inter- 
pretation of the Scriptures Calvin is incomparable, 
and that Iris Commentaries are more to be valued 
than any thing that is handed down to us in the 
Bibliotlieca, of the Fathers; so much so, that I 
concede to him a certain spirit of prophecy [inter- 
pretation] in which he stands distinguished above 
others, above most, yea, above all. His Institutes, 
so far as respects Commonplaces, I give out to be 
read after the Catechism, as a more extended 
explanation. But here I add — with discrimination; 
-as the writings of all men ought to be read. Of this 
-my mode of advice I could produce innumerable 
witnesses: they, cannot produce as much as one 
whom I advised to study Coornhert and the fol- 
lowers of Loyola. Let them produce one, and 
the he will stand revealed. So that here from no- 
thing springs a. history, or rather a fiction. What 
other things are * there done, I know; ay, and 
what busy things have been done elsewhere, I 
think you do not know. If you did know, you 
would be astonished at the perverse effrontery of 
men. As an antidote to all these I oppose integ- 
rity and patience, and sustain myself with the 
hope of a happy exit which the just Judge will 
grant unto me, who knows what I seek and 
what I do. I know that my earnest aims are 
pleasing to him, as being solely devoted to the 



JAMES ARM INIUS. 301 

establishment among Christians of truth, piety, 
and peace."* 

With no less confidence of mind did he under- 
take, in the year following, (1608,) the vindication 
of his own cause in the presence of that most 
noble man, Iiippolytus a Collibus, the ambassador 
to the States of the United Provinces of the 
illustrious Prince Palatine, Frederick the Fourth. 
E.umors being already rife at Heidelberg that, on 
several articles of the Christian faith, Arminius 
dissented from the received opinion, this noble- 
man, thinking he ought not to rest in these, but 
hear the other side also, invited Arminius, in a 
very courteous manner, to visit him at the Hague. 
Admitted, accordingly, to an interview with him, 
Hippolytus, in a manner singularly courteous, 
stated the reasons for the sinister suspicions 
respecting him, and on what heads it was that 
Sybranclus Lubberti had impeached him by letter 
to the distinguished Parreus ; on all which Armin- 
ius candidly and ingenuously explained his own 
opinions, in particular, concerning the Divinity of 
the Son of God, concerning Providence and Divine 
Predestination, concerning Grace and Free Will, 
and also on the subject of Justification. So satis- 
factory to that nobleman was his explanation on 



* Vid. Arm. Epist, ad Seb. Egb. inter Ep. Eccles. p 



1.185. 



302 THE LIFE OP 

these points, that he thought fit earnestly to solicit 
Arminius to give it to him in writing, in order 
that, on the one hand, after due consideration of 
these points, he might judge with more certainty 
and decisiveness respecting them, and, on the other, 
be in a condition, in conferring with any on the 
subject, to confute the calumnies referred to, and 
to vindicate his innocence. Arminius accordingly 
drew up at the time (on the 5th April, 1608) that 
most erudite and elaborate epistle to the ambassa- 
dor of the Prince Palatine, which still exists 
among his published works, and comprises a suc- 
cinct defence of his doctrine, as well as of his life. 
It is with pleasure w T e here subjoin the golden 
words with which he closes this epistle — words 
every w r ay worthy of a noble-minded man: 

"Would to God," he writes, "that I could ob- 
tain this from my brethren by profession of the 
same religious fellowship with me in the Lord, 
that they would at least give me credit for some 
susceptibility of conscience toward God ! which, 
surely, the love of Christ ought readily to obtain 
from them, if indeed they would meditate on his 
spirit and mind. What profit can accrue to me 
from dissension undertaken from the mere lust of 
dissension, from stirring schism in the Church of 
Christ, Of which, by the grace of God and of 
Christ, I profess myself a member? If they 



JAMES ABMINIUS. 303 

imaging I am instigated to this by ambition or 
avarice, I declare sincerely in the Lord they do 
not know me. So free from avarice can I affirm 
myself to be, that it has never happened to allure 
me with its blandishments, although pretexts are 
not wanting by which I might palliate or excuse 
it. Ambition I have none, except the honorable 
ambition which impels me to this — to investigate 
Divine truth from the Sacred Scriptures with all 
my might; to hold it forth when found, calmly 
and without contention, so as not to dictate to 
any, or strive to extort assent, much less to seek 
to lord it over another's faith ; and to hold it forth 
for this end, that I may gain more souls to Christ, 
and that I may be a good savor to him, and that 
mine may be an approved name in the Church of 
the saints. This, after a long time's patience, I 
hope through grace to attain; although at present I 
am a reproach to my brethren ; an offscouring and 
outcast to those who, in the same faith with me, 
worship and invoke the one God, the Father, the 
one Lord Jesus Christ, in the one Spirit, and who 
cherish the one hope with me, of obtaining the 
heavenly inheritance through the grace of our 
Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord will grant me, I 
hope, (and that the light of that holy and 
happy day may smile upon me !) that we may 
peacefully, in the name of the Lord, meet among 



304 THE LIFE OP 

ourselves, and institute a Christian conference on 
things pertaining to religion; in which I promise 
through the grace of God to exhibit that modera- 
tion of spirit, and love for the truth and peace, 
which may fairly be exacted and expected of the 
servant of Christ. Meanwhile, let my brethren 
be quiet, and allow me to be quiet; as quiet 
indeed I am, giving no trouble or molestation to 
them. If they think otherwise of me, let them 
institute proceedings : I will not shrink from the 
authority of any competent tribunal : I will not 
fail to appear. If they are of opinion that the 
minds of those who listen to me are artfully 
preoccupied as from a distance, and the affair 
managed with such policy that they neither deem 
it advisable to f;ice me in judgment, nor think it 
sufficiently safe that studious youth should be 
intrusted to me, and that therefore a black mark, 
as what I have deserved, ought to be daubed upon 
my name, in order that these same youth may be 
scared away — otherwise certain risk would be 
incurred from the delay of the conference; lo, 
here I present myself, that along with them I 
may address, solicit, and supplicate those whose 
prerogative it is to call, or grant, conventions of 
this kind, that they would not suffer us any 
longer to be agitated by such vexation and dis- 
quietude of spirit, but either themselves apply a 



JAMES AEMIXIUS. 305 

very speedy remedy, or permit it to be applied — 
but still, by their decree, and under their direc- 
tion. I will not refuse to appear before any 
convention, whether of all the ministers of our 
United Netherlands or of some of them, to be 
summoned from the several provinces; or even of 
all the ministers of Holland and Westfriesland, 
(to which province our Leyden Academy belongs,) 
or of some to be nominated from their number, 
provided the whole affair be transacted under the 
cognizance of our rightful rulers: nay, further, I 
neither shrink from nor dread the presence of 
learned men to be summoned from other places, 
provided they take part in the conference on 
equitable terms, and subject to the same rules to 
which I myself shall have to submit. Permit me 
to say, in one word, let a convention be held, be 
it of many or of few, if it only present some 
glimmering hope of success — such a hope as I 
shall not be able, on solid grounds, to prove decep- 
tive — here I am, prepared and ready at this very 
day, at this very hour; for it teases and vexes me 
to be daubed every day with fresh - calumnious 
aspersions, and to have the annoying necessity 
imposed upon me of wiping them away. In this 
respect, surely, I little resemble heretics, who 
either shrink from ecclesiastical conventions, or 
shape matters so that they can trust to the num- 



306 THE LIFE OP 

ber of then adherents, and calculate on certain 
victory." 

On the clay following that on which Arminius 
drew up this epistle — or rather epistolary disser- 
tation on religious affairs — to the Palatine ambas- 
sador, he gave forth the same indications of an 
intrepid and upright spirit in a letter to that man 
of consummate integrity, already knit to him for 
many years, at once by the bonds of close inti- 
macy and of high esteem — John Drusius. After 
some preliminary reference to the very shameful 
acts of calumny of which he was the victim, and 
to the calmness of spirit by which he eluded them, 
he goes on to address that most attached friend in 
the following terms: "This very peace of con- 
science makes me judge that even the advices of 
my friends, by which they urge me to refute these 
calumnies, need not be acted on by me with pre- 
cipitate haste. Nor do I apprehend that the 
minds either of the rulers or of learned men will 
be so far preoccupied with prejudice against me as 
not to be easily disabused even by the mere 
explanation of my sentiments and aims. Nay, 
verily, such mighty and over-hasty plotting on 
the part of my brethren against me, is to me a 
most certain sign that they are distrustful of their 
own cause. For he that trusteth doth not make 
haste, confiding in Jehovah, in whom alone is all 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 307 

his help; and mine truly lies in his Word only, 
for the truth, perfection, and perspicuity of which 
alone I will not cease to contend against the tradi- 
tions of all men, of what rank soever they be, as 
long as the benignant Grod thinks fit to lengthen 
out my life; nor will I ever suffer to be imposed 
on the Church of Christ, whether under the name 
of secondary, or under any other name, any 
authoritative rule whatsoever, other than that one 
only Rule which is contained in the books of the 
Old and New Testament. And there is a neces- 
sity, I perceive, for a strenuous agitation of the 
subject, even among us who not so long ago were 
foremost to urge this first principle in opposition 
to Papists; but now, as if fleeing from court, we 
do not blush to prescribe to the churches and to 
their ministers, as traditions by the standard of 
which the Scriptures are to be explained, even 
Confessions and Catechisms, because, forsooth, 
they- were drawn up by learned men, sanctioned 
by various decisions, confirmed by length of time, 
(for they are beginning to plead a prescription 
of forty years,) and sealed with the blood of 
martyrs !" 



308 THE LIFE OP 



CHAPTER XI. 

CONFERENCE AT THE HAGUE IN MAY, 1608 — ARMINIUS 
REPLIES TO THIRTY-ONE DEFAMATORY ARTICLES, FALSE- 
LY ASCRIBED TO HIM AND ADRIAN BORRIUS. — A. D. 1608. 

Rightly judging, however, that private com- 
plaints, like the foregoing, among his confidential 
friends, served no end of self-protection, and that 
unfavorable reports respecting him and Uitenbo- 
gaert were notoriously increasing every day; con- 
sidering how little, moreover, he could calculate, 
as matters then stood, on obtaining satisfaction 
through the medium of the ordinary ecclesiastical 
assemblies, Arminius decided on pursuing another 
course. He and Uitenbogaert, accordingly, pre- 
sented a petition to the States of Holland, in 
which " they not only complained that by their 
discrepant judgments as to the holding of the 
Synod, they had incurred, without cause, the 
odium of many ; but further declared, that though 
they regarded the judgments in question as being 
at once in strict harmony with reason and Scrip- 



JAMES AEMINIUS. 309 

ture, and in the highest degree adapted to the 
present state of ecclesiastical affairs, they by no 
means wished to press them to the obstruction of 
a National Synod : nay, rather, they would cheer- 
fully suffer that Synod — so long earnestly desired, 
and which they themselves, too, thought neces- 
sary — to be held in any other way, provided that 
in it due regard were had to the Sacred Scriptures, 
and care taken that no one lord it over another's 
faith. For their part, they utterly disclaimed all 
desire to bring about a new state of things, and 
with God's help would adhere till their last breath 
to the Reformed Church and doctrine. Further, 
they humbly begged and implored the illustrious 
States that by their gracious influence with the 
States -General a National Synod might be at 
length convoked, and an end be put at once and 
for ever to these most grievous contentions."* 

But further, as he perceived that, owing to the 
public and grave deliberations of the States re- 
specting the armistice, little attention was paid 
to this petition on its being presented and read; 
and as, in the mean time, his students were treated 
in a most rigorous manner, and the usual academic 
certificates with which he furnished them were 
unfairly disparaged, Arminius felt constrained to 

•*■ Vid. scriptuni hoc supplic. integrum in Hist. Uitenbog. p. 425. 



310 THE LIFE OF 

draw up an additional petition, in his own individ- 
ual name, most urgently praying these supreme 
rulers of his country that they would not refuse 
to institute a legal inquiry into his cause, and 
with that wisdom by which they were di • 
guished, determine the method, either in the fo 1 - 
of a conference^ or of an ecclesiastical corn 7 ' 
to be held under their auspices, ];; whir- 1 . . die 
very first opportunity, the way might . opened 
to him to clear himself from so : ... . v injurious 
aspersions.'" Reverting to thip ; Ion, he Rulers 
of Holland and West Friesh die view of 

foreclosing a greater evil, . d that Goma- 

tus and Arminius be sun . :o the Hague — 

the four ministers who . ~ ■ :• i the last confer- 
ence at the Hague, : ' <i,h and North Hol- 
land, to be also . . ! aiat they be heard 
before the Gran .1 J: 'he Honorable Coun- 
cillors of the Supreme Cart, moreover, were 
instructed to ascertain, by means of the confer- 
ence on religious matters to be held between the 
two Professors — due inquiry bein-j instituted into 
the cause of each — "whether the difference that 
subsisted between them could not be settled by 
friendly converse; and to report to the States in 
regard to the whole case."f 

* Uitenb. Hist. Eccles. p. 435. f Trigland Hist. p. 413, 414. 



JAMES AEMINIUS. 311 

But to this decree the deputies of the churches 
opposed themselves with all their might; and 
pleading prescriptive authority, they, on the 14th 
May, besought the States that in place of this 
conference, appointed to be held before the Su- 
preme Court, a provincial Synod be convened, in 
which this ecclesiastical cause should be investi- 
gated and decided by ecclesiastical men, and by 
those delegated by the churches with power to 
judge. The States replied that it was only an 
inquiry into the cause with which the Supreme 
Court was charged ; but that judgment respecting 
it would be afterward committed to a provincial or 
National Synod.* 

To give, however, a more accurate idea of what, 
at this time, were the state and aspect of the 
Ley den Academy, we will here present to the 
reader the letter of the eminent Peter Bertius, 
Regent of the Theological College, written, on the 
occasion of the appointment of this conference, 
to that Honorable Senator of the Supreme Court, 
and most upright man, Rombout Hoogerbeets : 

"Illustrious Sir and Honored Lord: — I under- 
derstand that a conference is to be held shortly, 
on some controverted heads of doctrine, between 
Doctor Groniarus and Doctor Arminius ; and that, 
for the settlement of that affair, beside the minis- 

* Vict. Prsefat. Act. Synod. Dordr. 



312 THE LIFE OP 

ters already appointed, there are to be present 
most of the senators of your Superior Court. I 
hope the matter will be brought to a happy and 
successful issue, for the restoration of ecclesiasti- 
cal concord ; and I sincerely pray and supplicate 
God, the author of peace, that such will be the 
result. For hitherto a diversity of conflicting sen- 
timents, beside distracting the minds of some, has 
also made my office, sufficiently difficult in itself, 
to be one of much more difficult fulfilment. For 
at first, instructions were given us that my stu- 
dents should listen to either professor indifferently, 
and without distinction. I also, by virtue of my 
office, am instant and urgent to this effect ; nor 
do I suffer any one to neglect any prelection with 
impunity. I also rehearse the prelections of 
either, without prejudice in regard to any; and 
partiality, according to the measure in which I 
execrate it, do I also banish it from the college. 
By this it happens, that of my students some 
embrace the sentiments of Doctor Gohiarus ; 
some, again, those of Doctor Arminius — though 
modestly, in the latter case, on account of the 
Synod, and the hazard of being kept back from 
the ministry. But I find from the statements of 
certain parties, that all those who attend Doctor 
Arminius are found fault with, and held as sus- 
pected, and are judged unfit either for churches 



JAMES A R MINI US. 313 

or schools. For which reason, the illustrious 
States will lose their cost, and myself, the stu- 
dents, and Arminius, will lose our pains; and it 
will turn out that what they have learned from 
him they must unlearn, and recant the sentiments 
they received with open minds. If this is to take 
place, it were better either that the students had 
never dipped into learning, or that Doctor Armin- 
ius had never been seen here, where he advances 
things that cannot be brought to the public, 
except under the infamous brand of heresy. But 
I, willingly obedient to the mandates of my Lords, 
and desirous of promoting the interests of my 
students, could wish the toil of Arminius, not 
less than of Doctor Gomarus, to be useful to the 
churches. I am hedged up, therefore, with diffi- 
culty on either hand, and hang in doubt as to 
what, in the circumstances, ought to be done. 
And having in the college, at present, several 
young men ripe for the church, I very much wish, 
both for their sake, and for the sake of those who 
come after, and for my own sake also, and, more than 
all, for the sake of the public peace, that whatever 
difference there is, may be authoritatively settled 
and set at rest; for that all the controversies 
should subside, and either party succumb to the 
opinion of the other, I suppose is matter of a too 
moderate desire to be realized in men of that pro- 
14 



314 THE LIFE OP 

fession. Such being the state of affairs, I could 
wish that to me also, in that transaction at the 
Hague, some place were allowed in the back 
benches, as a listener and spectator. Not that I 
desire to pry. curiously into other people's affairs, 
or to address myself to business which it devolves 
on others to perform, (for I have enough, and 
more than enough, to do at home,) but that, 
for the reason mentioned, I reckon that affair 
one which very much concerns me. For on me 
mainly, as presiding over the youth engaged in 
the study of theology, will it devolve to carry 
into effect what may there be decreed ; and I 
shall be in a condition, after hearing parties, to 
discharge more prudently the functions of my 
calling and superintendence, and to consult accord- 
ingly for the interests of my students. I shall 
have the course indicated at last which I myself 
may venture openly to pursue. For I perceive 
that the eyes of many are turned on me, and that 
from my procedure, judgments are formed respect- 
ing my young men ; and that, too, so keenly, that 
even now I am asked whether there are not some 
in the college who are attached to the opinion and 
party of Arminius; which students, unless they 
recant, these persons (you know their hot-headed 
zeal) would gladly see cashiered and turned out 
forthwith. There are some also who urge that 



JAMES ARUIXIUS. 315 

they ought to be severally scrutinized and exam- 
ined by some deputed for that purpose; and if, 
during that process, any one should express aught 
that savors of the sentiments of Arminius — if 
they do not answer in all things according to the 
opinions of their inquisitors — the only alternative 
for my young men will be, either to bring them- 
selves to a recantation, or to betake themselves to 
another mode of life. Thus, so long as we are 
miserably split up into parties, we are in course of 
being reduced, by little and little, to desolation; 
and our body, which, by the concord and equani- 
mity of the professors, was in a condition to stand 
firm and increase, is sensibly dissolving and wast- 
ing away — the very parties inflicting the evil who 
ought to apply a balm to the grievous wound. I 
beseech you, therefore, illustrious sir, that you 
would use your influence with the noble Barne- 
veldt, to procure me admission into that confer- 
ence, to act merely a silent part, and get to know 
of the things that would make for the advantage and 
safety of the college. I will see you, God willing, 
in the course of two days, and ascertain from 
yourself personally either what you have done in 
this matter, or what you think respecting it. — 
Farewell. Given at Leyden in Holland, 14th 
May, 1608. Thine, Peter Bertius."* 

* Ex ipso Bertii autographo. 



316 THE LIFE OF 

Thus writes Bertius. Whether or not he got 
his wish, or what sort of answer he received from 
the honorable Hoogerbeets, I have never ascer- 
tained. 

Meanwhile the two professors, with the depu- 
ties of the churches, presented themselves, on the 
day appointed, before the august body of Sena- 
tors at the Hague; when the honorable president 
of the assembly, after some preliminary reference 
to the mandate of the States, and the object con- 
templated by this transaction, called on Gomarus 
to declare, without evasion and reserve, whether 
there w T as any difference between him and his col- 
league, and if so, what was its nature. Gomarus 
urged by way of objection, "that he was sincerely 
devoted to the service of the illustrious States, 
and acknowledged that this present College of the 
Supreme Court was composed of distinguished and 
prudent men; but that it was their province to pro- 
nounce judgment not concerning sacred things, but 
only concerning things civil and secular — that the 
matter belonged not to their tribunal, but to that of 
the churches; and that no investigation of it could 
be instituted in this place without prejudice to his 
cause, and that of the churches — that they ought 
to render unto God the things that are God's, but 
unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and that 
they ought to obey God rather than man." 



JAMES ARMINIUS, 317 

The Council replied, "that no doubt the cause 
of religion was here treated of, and that they by 
no means wished to arrogate to themselves the 
authority to decide in regard to it, an inquiry into 
it being the only province intrusted to them." 
Again, accordingly, they importuned Gomarus that 
he would not refuse to communicate to them 
freely his own account of the matter. 

Still spinning out delays, Gomarus here con- 
tended, in the first place, "that it was unjust that 
he should undertake the part of prosecutor of Ar- 
minius, with whom he had hitherto lived on familiar 
terms; being, moreover, ignorant of the things 
which his colleague had written or had delivered, 
whether in public prelections or in his private 
class. But since Arminius had sometimes made 
mention of certain scruples he had, it was better 
that he should produce them himself. He, for 
his part, did not call in question any heads what- 
soever of Christian- doctrine as they were com- 
prised and explained in the Confession and Cate- 
chism; nor did he wish to stir any strife respect- 
ing them." At last, when the Council insisted on 
a more express reply, he was reduced to the 
alternative of confessing "that between himself 
and Arminius there did lurk some dissension; but 
that, in his view, it was highly inexpedient and 
prejudicial to the liberty of the churches to 



318 THE LIFE OF 

explain the nature of it at this time and in this 
place." 

At this point, however, Arniinius, who had 
thus far maintained silence, expressed "his aston- 
ishment, considering that various rumors about his 
heterodoxy had by this time run the round of 
all the churches, and the conflagration he had 
kindled was said to have surmounted the topmost 
pile of the Church, that such prodigious difficulty 
should nevertheless be here pretended to declare 
of what sort that difference might be, or what he 
himself had taught in opposition to the formula- 
ries of consent. It was iniquitous to demand this 
declaration from him, and thus fish matter of 
accusation out of his own mouth. What he had 
taught privately or publicly in contrariety to the 
Confession and Catechism, no one would ever pro- 
duce. And as to the doubts he might cherish, it 
was not fair that he should produce them, except 
in terms of a decree of the supreme magistracy, 
who had determined that the Confession and Cate- 
chism should be revised in a National Synod."* 

On this, Gomarus undertook to prove, that in 
regard to that primary article of the Christian 
faith, the justification of man before God, Arminius 
had taught such an opinion as was repugnant to 

* Prsefat. Act. Synod. Dordr. 



JAMES AEMIXIUS, 319 

the Sacred Volume and to the Confession of the 
Belgic Churches. In proof of this, he produced 
the very words of Arminius, extracted both from 
his theses on justification, and from a certain let- 
ter to a friend, in which he had asserted, "that in 
the justification of man before God, the righteous- 
ness of Christ is not imputed for righteousness, 
but faith itself; or the act of believing constitutes, 
through God's gracious act of acquittance, that 
righteousness of ours by which we are justified." 
After Gomarus had asked that these statements 
might be inserted among the records of that con- 
ference, Arminius, on the other hand, dictated 
the following statement for insertion in the same 
records : " In order to declare how utterly abhorrent 
my soul is from all desire of unnecessary conten- 
tion or disputation, I profess that I hold as true, 
pious, and sacred, that doctrine of justification be- 
fore God effected through faith to faith, or of the 
imputation of faith for righteousness, which is 
contained in the Harmony of Confessions by all 
the Churches; and that I approve of it, and have 
always approved of it, and thoroughly acquiesce 
in it. But that a still clearer testimony may 
remain of this my desire for the general peace of 
the Reformed and Protestant Churches, I solemnly 
affirm that should occasion require me to commit 
to writing my opinion on this matter, both as 



320 THE LIFE OF 

respects the point itself, and as respects the 
phraseology and more accurate mode of treat- 
ment, (which opinion I am prepared to defend 
by solid arguments, against all objections,) I will 
cheerfully submit that writing to the verdict 
of all these Churches, to this extent, namely: that 
if, after the cause has been investigated in due 
form, according to the decree of my supreme 
Lords, these Churches shall think that said opin- 
ion and its maintainers are not to be tolerated, I 
will either desist from that opinion, in the event 
of being better instructed, or resign my office."* 

In these statements of Arminius, Gornarus still 
refused to acquiesce; nor could he be brought to 
acknowledge that, on the point in question, the 
opinion of Arminius was exactly coincident with 
that of the Reformed Church ; on which the latter, 
with the view of testifying still further the pacific 
sentiments that inspired him, and of avoiding 
superfluous disputation, exclaimed, "Here is my 
confession on this point, couched in the express 
terms of the Palatine Catechism." Then, reciting 
the very words of the Catechism, he went on to 
say : "I believe in my heart, and confess with my 
mouth, that I shall pass as righteous in the sight 
of God, only by faith in Jesus Christ; so that, 

* Vid. lib. cui titulus Origo et progress, dissicliorum Eccles. in 
Belgio, Belg. conscript, pp. 21, 22. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 321 

although my conscience may accuse me of having 
grievously sinned against all the commandments 
of God, and not kept any of them, and of having 
till now, besides, been inclined to all evil, never- 
theless, provided I embrace these benefits with 
true confidence of mind, the perfect satisfaction, 
righteousness, and holiness of Christ will, without 
any merit on my part, of the mere mercy of God, 
be imputed to and bestowed upon me, the same as 
if I had committed no sin, and as if no taint 
adhered to me — nay, more, as if I myself had 
perfectly performed that obedience which Christ 
has performed on my behalf. Not that I please 
God by the worth of my faith, but that the satis- 
faction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ con- 
stitute my righteousness in the sight of God. 
Only, I cannot embrace it, and apply it to myself, 
in any other way than by faith."* 

But not even this confession would satisfy 
Gomarus. Nay, he repeatedly rated Arminius for 
making faith the object or matter of justification, 
but the righteousness of Christ the meritorious 
cause of justification. In this he thought he had 
effected something of great moment ; but in the 
estimation of most of the Council it was little 
else than a logomachy, since it was evident between 



* Vid. resp. ad quest. LX. et LXI. Cateck. Palatinse. 
14* 



322 THELIFEOF 

them both that it was not the value of our works, 
hut the grace of God, that effected our being 
justified by faith.* When, moreover, Gomarus 
insisted on hearing the opinion of Arminius on 
certain other questions also, it seemed good to the 
Council to enjoin first on him, and then on Armin- 
ius, to deliver each his own opinion respecting 
certain primary articles on which some question 
had been raised between them, comprised in a 
series of propositions, and drawn up in writing ; 
and that eaeh, in turn, should append his own 
animadversions and strictures on the written state- 
ment of the other. 

This being done, and the conference brought to 
a close, the Council reported to the States of 
Holland "that they, indeed, as far as they had 
been able to perceive from this conference, were 
of opinion that the controversies which had arisen 
between these two professors were not after all of 
such great importance, and had to do for the most 
part with certain more subtile reasonings on the 
subject of Predestination, which might either be 
omitted, or tolerated in a spirit of mutual forbear- 
ance." On this report being made, it pleased the 
States forthwith to summon before them, in the 
Council-hall, both the professors, and the rest of 

* Vid. Grot. Epist. ad Reigersb. 



JAMES AEMINIUS. 323 

the ministers concerned j* when the Most Honor- 
able, the Grand Pensionary, (Oldenbarneveldt,) 
addressing himself to them, among other things 
declared, "that it was to him matter of gratitude 
to God that on the great heads of Christian 
doctrine no controversy existed. "f And then, 
after having, in name of that honorable assem- 
bly, given thanks to each for this renewed and 
faithful endeavor, he enjoined upon them "to 
keep to themselves what had been transacted 
in that meeting; to advance nothing whatever 
that was opposed either to the Sacred Scriptures 
or to the Confession and Catechism; and to direct 
all their counsels henceforward for the peace of 
the Academy and the Church;" adding, "that the 
States would do their endeavor to get these con- 
troversies determined either in a National or (if 
that could not be convened in time) in a Provin- 
cial Synod." 

But Gomarus, thinking that much greater im- 
portance ought to be attached to the growing 
controversies, begged permission to speak, and did 
not scruple on that occasion to declare, "that the 
opinions of his colleague on the points in dispute 
between them were of such a nature as would 
make him shrink, if he himself entertained them, 

* Prsefat. Act. Synod. Dord. 

f Ex Declarat. Arm. coram Ord. 



32-1 THE LIFE OF 

from the thought of standing before God, his 
judge ; and that unless a remedy were promptly 
applied, it was to be feared that there would be 
a mutual embroilment of one province against 
another, church against church, city against city, 
and burgher against burgher."* While to some 
these statements seemed unwarrantably harsh, 
others viewed them as the testimony of an un- 
shackled and fearless conscience, and this the 
rather, that for several days, and most of all at 
that time, he had maintained some moderation 
of look and tone. On the other hand, to this 
declaration of Gomarus, which he was greatly 
astonished to hear, Arminius spiritedly rejoined, 
"that he, for his part, was by no means conscious 
of holding any religious sentiment of so atrocious 
a character; that the controversies were not so 
serious as all this, but chiefly concerned Predes- 
tination; and that he always adhered to the 
Confession of the Church in Holland, and meant 
still to adhere to it; that in opposition to the 
particular opinions of some, he had occasionally 
spoken, as necessity demanded ; but that he had 
never given utterance to any thing that militated 
against the general sentiments of the Reformed 
Church ; that he would furnish no cause for 

* Grot. Epist. ad N. Reigersb.— Prosfat. Act. Synod. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 325 

any schism either in the Church or State ; that 
he was, moreover, prepared to declare openly 
and in good faith his opinion and his aims in 
regard to the entire subject of religion as soon 
as he was commanded by his Sovereign Lords to 
do so; yea, even now, before withdrawing from 
this hall."* 

Many who were sincerely attached to Arminius, 
and to the cause of ecclesiastical peace, had antici- 
pated from this conference a happier issue, and 
threw the blame of the protracted dissension upon 
Gomarus, who here, if ever, had scorned to yield:\ 
Yea, and others, too, whose feelings rose against 
Gomarus in still smarter revolt, did not hesitate 
to declare, "that they would rather appear before 
the Divine tribunal with the faith of Arminius, 
than with the charity of Gomarus." Hugh Gro- 
tius, for one, a man of great name, alluding to the 
above-mentioned conference, writes in a letter to 
his kinsman Reigersberg, that he had found Uiten- 
bogaert about this time more sad J than usual — 
giving vent to these among other expressions : 
"that although the Provincial Synod should take 

* Ex Declar. Arm. coram Ord. 

f This is an allusion to the words, "cedere nesciuscuiquam," which 
the poet Heinsius applies to Gomarus in certain verses prefixed to 
the collected works of the latter. 

J "And Gomarus more jocund," — adds Gerard Brandt. Hist. Ref. 
Low Countries. — Tr. 



326 THE LIFE OF 

place, nevertheless, considering the weight of pre- 
judice under which the affair was driven, and that 
the particular opinions of divines — stealing insen- 
sibly into the minds of their disciples, and by- 
lapse of time, and neglect of profounder inquiry, 
received with the tacit consent of the churches — 
smothered by their authority the ardor of great 
intellects ; and considering that in churches, not 
less than in other assemblies, the greater could 
prevail over the letter part, he anticipated for the 
prospects of Arminius no happier issue than befell 
Castellio, who was so pressed by the violence of 
his adversaries as to be reduced to the necessity 
of seeking a livelihood by laboring as a wood- 
man."* 

That this was no chimerical fear which haunted 
the mind of Uitenbogaert in regard to his friend 
Arminius, might be too well augured from the foul 
lies and insults with which, more and more every 
day, detraction assaulted the name of the latter. 
For this end, there were put in circulation, at this 
very time, twenty and eleven theological articles, 
ascribed*)" partly to him, partly to Adrian Borrius, 



* Origo et progress, disserts. Eccles. in Belg. p. 22. — Vid. Grot. 
Epist. opus p. 3. 

f That is, two series of articles consisting respectively of twenty 
and eleven. See the opening statements of his Apologia adv. art. 
xxxi., Opera, p. 134. — Tk. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 327 

one of the ministers of Leyden, and partly to 
both ; in the dissemination of which his adversa- 
ries had this sole object in view, to stir up against 
these two men, thus branded with the black mark 
of heresy, the hatred, not only of the unlettered 
public, but also of those who held high positions 
both in the Church and in the State. Of these 
articles, sixteen, couched in the self-same words, 
had already, two years before, reached the hands 
of Arminius. These being alike destitute of truth 
both as respected historical narration and theologi- 
cal import, Arminius thought that they would die 
in the bud, and might therefore pass unnoticed at 
the time; but when, contrary to his expectation, 
he perceived that they were still and increasingly 
in circulation, and were, moreover, augmented by 
new articles, he judged it expedient, lest the rage 
of calumny should gather strength from delay, 
and protracted silence on his part be construed as 
confession, to meet them with a temperate and 
succinct reply. The task accomplished, he showed 
this apologetic treatise to the very persons them- 
selves (men of wisdom and of great authority) by 
whose aid he succeeded in laying his hands on the 
above-named articles ; but they dissuaded him from 
publishing it, lest the too thorough confutation 
of calumny should so engender ignominy to the 
authors of it as to influence more and more their 



328 THE LIFE OF 

zeal in maligning him.* I cannot allow myself, in 
this connection, to omit the striking words, worthy 
to be held in remembrance, in which, after having 
explained his own opinion on the articles in detail, 
he thus replies to a certain principal objection by 
way of corollary : 

"There will be those, perhaps, who will twit 
me with appearing to answer at times in a tone of 
hesitation, when it is incumbent on a doctor and 
professor of theology to be sure of those things 
which he is to teach to others, and not to fluctuate 
in his opinions. To such I would answer: 1. That 
even a man the most learned, and the most versed 
in the sacred writings, is ignorant of many things, 
and is always a learner in the school of Christ and 
the Scriptures. But it is not possible for the man 
who is ignorant of many things to give an unhesi- 
tating reply on all the points in regard to which 
an occasion or necessity of pronouncing may be 
presented to him, either by adversaries, or by 
others who wish to inquire and ascertain his mind 
by conversation and discussion, in private or in 
public. For it is better, on points respecting 
which he has not certain knowledge, for such a 
man to pronounce doubtfully rather than posi- 
tively, and to intimate that he himself requires 

* Ex Ep. Arm. ad S. Egb. 10 Octob. 1608. 



JAMES AEMINIUS. 329 

to make daily progress, and along with those 
inquirers to seek instruction; for no one, I trow, 
has advanced to such a stage of boldness as to 
call himself a master who is ignorant of no one 
thing, and who entertains a doubt on no subject 
whatsoever. 2. All things that come under con- 
troversy are not of equal importance. Some doc- 
trines are such that no one may doubt concerning 
them who wishes to be ranged under the name of 
Christian; but there are others which are not of 
the same dignity, and in regard to which those 
who have treated of the catholic doctrine have 
differed among themselves without detriment to 
the Christian truth and peace. Of what descrip- 
tion the points are which are here treated, and 
respecting which I have seemed to give a dubious 
answer, and whether they are points of absolute 
necessity, will fall to be considered at the proper 
time. 3. If this my reply is not peremptory, it 
is not because I have advanced any thing in it 
contrary to my conscience, but because I have not 
thought proper to bring out, at the first moment, 
all the things which I could say. I have judged 
my reply sufficient, and more than sufficient, for 
those imputations which are grounded on no rea- 
sons whatever; neither on this, that they can in 
truth be fastened on me, nor that they militate 
against the truth of the Scriptures. In reference 



330 THE LIFE OF 

to most of them, a simple denial, and demand for 
proof, would have been a discharge in full of all 
that they could justly claim at my hands. I have 
proceeded beyond this, in order to give some 
measure of satisfaction; and further, to stimulate 
them to a conference, should my brethren think it 
needful. This I will never refuse, provided it be 
proceeded with in due form, and in such a manner 
that fruit may be expected to result from it." 

Meanwhile that calumny which we have men- 
tioned above, as to his strenuous efforts to pro- 
mote the interests of the Papal kingdom, was also 
resuscitated about this same time, and was urged 
against him in a manner the most offensive. With 
the view of neutralizing this falsehood, a year 
had scarcely elapsed since he had drawn up very 
learned theses concerning idolatry ; adding, by way 
of corollary, " that the Roman Pontiff is an idol, and 
that those who take him for that which he vaunts 
himself to be, are, for that very reason, idolaters." 
Beside these he had published other theses, in 
which he maintained "that the Reformed Churches 
had not made a secession from that of Rome, and 
that these churches did well in refusing to hold 
and profess communion with it in faith and Divine 
worship." Nor was this all. The more effectu- 
ally even yet to seal the lips of his detractors, 
Arminius, shortly after the conference held in the 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 331 

presence of the Grand Council, got up a public 
disputation concerning the Roman Pontiff, main- 
taining that he is "an adulterer, and the pander 
of the Church; the false prophet and tail of the 
dragon; the adversary of God and of Christ; the 
Antichrist; the wicked servant who beats his 
fellow-servants ; having no title to the name of 
bishop ; the destroyer and waster of the Church." 
Yet not even by this declaration did he succeed 
in satisfying the suspicious tempers of some. An 
individual was found who, in a letter he sent to 
Germany, put in a mutilated form the title of his 
theses respecting secession from the Church of 
Rome, by which foreigners, and those who were 
unacquainted with the facts, might be led to 
believe that Arminius had an undue leaning to the 
Papal Church. Yea, a certain minister of Amster- 
dam, carried away by the popular clamor against 
him, made a public assault upon Arminius as a 
divine who was most unsound, and who held 
the Roman Pontiff to be a member of the body 
of Christ — "a doctrine this," he exclaimed, "so 
exceedingly hateful to God, that it had been 
observed by discerning men not a few, that from 
the time at which certain persons had begun to 
maintain it, public affairs had declined, and some 
of our most strongly fortified cities had come to 
be occupied by the enemy." This calumny was 



332 THE LIFE OP 

followed up by another, namely, that he was insti- 
gating many to go over to the Papacy, and fur- 
nishing occasion to some politicians to deny less 
stoutly the exercise of the Popish religion to 
those who demanded it. 

But though Arminius saw no remedy for dissi- 
pating these clouds of detraction to be preferable 
to that of innocence and patience, still he lost no 
time in addressing to wise and eminent men, and 
in particular to the magistrates of Amsterdam, in 
whose city at that time the most unbridled rage 
of evil -speaking prevailed, his complaint of the 
injury thereby inflicted upon him ; and he pro- 
tested by letter how utterly these clamors were 
at variance with truth. Mark his brief declara- 
tion on this subject in a letter to the honorable 
Sebastian Egberts : " I openly profess that I do 
not hold the Roman Pontiff to be a member of 
Christ's body, but to be an enemy, a traitor, sacri- 
legious, a blasphemer, a tyrant, and most violent 
usurper of a most unjust domination over the 
Church ; as the man of sin, as the son of perdi- 
tion, as that most notorious outlaw, etc. I under- 
stand, however, by the Pope one who exercises 
the Pontificate in the usual manner. But if some 
Adrian of Utrecht, supposing him to be elevated 
without dishonorable artifices to the Pontifical 
chair, were actively to set about the reformation 



JAMES AEMINIUS. 333 

of the Church, making a commencement with him- 
self the Pope, and with the Pontificate, and with 
the Court at Rome, and assuming nothing more 
than the name and authority of Bishop — though 
holding the preeminence over all other bishops, by- 
virtue of ancient statutes of the Church — him I 
should not dare to call by the above appellations; 
for the man whom the minions of Antichristianism, 
and whom the Court at Rome hold in such hatred 
as to take his very life, such a one I cannot per- 
suade myself to regard as the worst of men. 
Now it is believed that this man was dispatched 
by poison, administered b}^ those who feared that 
he was about to effect a reformation in the Church 
and in the Roman Court. I apprehend, however — 
and I think it can be established out of the Scrip- 
tures with great probability — that from him who 
is elevated to the Roman Pontificate, no reforma- 
tion is to be expected ; and if an}^ one allows 
himself to be moved by that hope to make the 
attempt, he incurs the certain danger of death 
or of exile — the issue being so arranged even 
by God himself; for the Pontificate will be 
abolished by the glorious advent of Christ ; and 
the predicted reformation is destined to take place 
through the separation of peoples from Babylon, 
which Babylon, at the time, will not be destitute 
of its head. But if that preacher supposes that 



334 THE LIFE OF 

from this opinion which I entertain — namely, that 
a bill of divorcement has not yet been delivered 
by God to the Church in which the Roman Pontiff 
sits enthroned — it follows that I acknowledge 
even the Pope himself to be a member of the 
Church, he blazons his own ignorance of the 
distinction between those who are seduced and 
suffer the tyranny, on the one hand, and the 
False Prophet and tyrant himself on the other, 
who himself abnegates the name, member of the 
Church, seeing he audaciously pronounces himself 
head of the Church, and excommunicates all those, 
or holds them as excommunicated, who are not 
prepared to acknowledge him as head."* 

Feeling persuaded that by this answer he had 
abundantly refuted the forementioned accusation, 
Arminius reckoned it a matter of no great diffi- 
culty to reply to those who at the same time 
affirmed of him that he had pronounced "the 
fourth volume of Bellarmine to be irrefutable." It 
is indeed true that though he had never employed 
these very words, he yet confessed that he some- 
times cherished the wish that he could have seen 
more solidly refuted the arguments of that cele- 
brated champion of the Romish Church, in which 
he strove to elicit from the opinion of certain of 

* Epist. Eceles. p. 212. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 335 

the Reformed, that they made the ever-blessed 
God the author of all sin. Nay, even the cele- 
brated Conrad Vortius himself, who, on account 
of the strenuous service he rendered against the 
Papists, had at this time earned a high reputation, 
failed, in the judgment of Arminius, to do suffi- 
cient justice to the cause of the Reformed in his 
reply to the " Theses of the Jesuits concerning 
the faith of the Calvinists." For this reason, he 
deemed it the safer course to decline the authority 
of certain divines of the Protestant Church, and 
openly to declare that peculiar opinions ought not 
to be fastened upon the Reformed Churches; and, 
moreover, that it might be retorted on Bellarmine 
that there were some also among the scholastics, 
and other Popish divines, from whose writings the 
selfsame consequences might be deduced.* 

Aruiinius finding himself in this manner con- 
tending from day to day against the slanders of 
adversaries, used to complain to himself that he 
was set down by his brethren as a sort of mere 
" filth and offscourings ;" while by those who at 
this time enjoyed his intimacy, he was heard on 
several occasions uttering with a groan, and adapt- 
ing to his own infelicitous lot, these words of the 
prophet Jeremiah : " Woe is me, my mother, that 

* Vid. ep. Arm. ad C. Vorst. 25 Aug., 1607, item. Ep. prid. Kal. 
April, 1609. 



336 THE LIFE OP 

thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of 
contention to the whole earth! I have neither 
lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; 
yet every one of them doth curse me."* 

Meanwhile, consulting at once for his reputation 
and for the tranquillity of the Church, it pleased 
the rulers of Holland to summon Arminius before 
their Assembly on the 30th of October, and to 
order him, in fulfilment of the pledge he had 
lately given, to deliver to them, briefly and 
perspicuously, orally and in writing, his own 
opinion on all the heads of doctrine in reference 
to which he stood somewhat in doubt. Joyfully 
obedient to this mandate, on the day appointed 
he repaired to the Hague, and before that august 
assembly of the illustrious fathers of his country, 
he expounded, in a lengthened oration, his opin- 
ions respecting Divine Predestination, the Grace 
of God, Free Will, the Perseverance of the Saints, 
the Certainty of Salvation, the Perfection of Man 
in this life, the Deity of the Son, Justification, 
and the Reformation of the Confession and Cate- 
chism. The subject, however, on which he deemed 
it of special importance to insist, was that of Pre- 
destination; and therefore, besides fortifying his 
own opinion on this point by a variety of reasons, 

* Jer. xv. 10. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 337 

he also asserted, at great length, the magnitude 
of the difficulties which beset the doctrine that 
was delivered by many divines of the Reformed 
Church. He showed and proved that a sentiment 
was propounded by some which conflicted with 
the nature of God, and his wisdom, justice, and 
goodness; with the nature of man and his free 
will ; with the work of creation ; with the nature 
of eternal life and death; and, finally, with the 
nature of sin : that it was subversive of Divine 
grace, opposed to the glory of God, and obstruc- 
tive to the salvation of men: that it made God 
the author of sin, hindered sorrow on account of 
sin, did away with all pious solicitude, diminished 
the desire of piety, quenched the ardor of prayer, 
generated despair, inverted the gospel, impeded 
the ministry of the Divine Word, and, in fine, 
shook the foundations not of the Christian religion 
only, but of all religion whatsoever.* After 
expounding these particulars in a manly tone and 
in succinct order, he at length brought his oration 
to a close in these striking words, so indicative of 
a mind devoted to the maintenance of Christian 
peace : 

" Such, my most noble, most potent, most wise, 
and most prudent Lords, is what I have thought 



* Vid. Declar. Arm. coram Ord. 
15 



338 THE LIFE OF 

it dutiful to lay before your Highnesses. At the 
same time, also, I give thanks to this most noble 
and potent Assembly, (to which, after God, I 
acknowledge myself bound to render an account 
of all my actions,) that it has vouchsafed to listen 
to me with clemency and patience. Still further, 
I solemnly declare that from my inmost soul I am 
prepared to enter into friendly and fraternal con- 
ference on these and all other points, respecting 
which any controversy may exist or ever occur, 
with my reverend brethren, at whatever time, in 
whatever place, and on whatever occasion shall to 
this illustrious Assembly seem good. Moreover, 
I promise to maintain in all these conferences a 
bearing flexible and fair, prepared alike to learn 
and to teach. Besides, when, on all the doctrines 
which may fall to be discussed, it comes to be in- 
quired, in the first place, whether that which is the 
subject of debate be true, and, in the next place, 
whether the belief of it ought to be regarded as 
necessary to salvation, I, for my part, solemnly pro- 
mise and vow that no article, however I may prove 
it by the most solid arguments to be agreeable to 
the Word of God, shall by me be obtruded on my 
brethren who think differently as a thing to be 
believed, unless I clearly prove from the Divine 
Word, and that quite as clearly as I have proved 
its truth, that it is also necessary to salvation that 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 339 

every Christian should so believe it. If my breth- 
ren shall be ready to do the same, it will be no 
easy matter, in my judgment, for any controversy 
or schism to exist amongst us. To these things 
I add — in order that all apprehension, so far as I 
am concerned, may be removed from this noble 
convention, now occupied and oppressed with 
weighty affairs, as those on whom the safety of 
our country and of the Reformed Churches in 
the highest degree depends — that the errors must 
needs be very many and grievous which I will not 
forbear with in my ministerial brethren ; for I am 
not one who would lord it over another's faith, but 
one who would merely be a servant to those 
believing, that in them may increase the know- 
ledge of the truth, together with piety, peace, and 
joy in Jesus Christ our Lord. But if my breth- 
ren be of another mind, and think that I ought 
not to be borne with, and that no place should 
be allowed to me among them, I nevertheless hope 
that no division will arise by reason of me, seeing 
that too many divisions, alas ! already abound 
among Christians, and it becomes every one rather 
to strive with all his might to get these same 
diminished and extinguished. But in this event, 
I will in patience possess my soul ; and though it 
shall still be my aim to live for the good of our 
common Christianity, as long as the ever-blessed 



340 THE LIFE OP 

God may be pleased to prolong my life, I will 
cheerfully resign my office, mindful of this : Sat 
ecclesiie, sat patriae datum : for the church, and 
for my Country, my part has been discharged." 

Here ended Arminius. His oration, though 
listened to with great admiration and applause, 
from the modesty of the speaker, gave rise never- 
theless to a diversity of judgments ; some being 
of opinion that he had spoken nothing but what 
the exigency of just defence had demanded, while 
others accused him of over-much confidence, and 
of having used the sword rather than the shield. 

At that time, and in the very month in which 
Arminius had delivered this declaration, in writ- 
ing, into the hands of the States, the Synod of 
South Holland, held at Dort, decided that it 
should forthwith be sternly insisted on, that those 
pastors who had a leaning to Arminius should 
disclose whatever scruples or strictures they might 
have, relative to the Confession and Catechism, 
within the space of the month following that on 
which they received intimation, on pain of eccle- 
siastical censure to be inflicted on the contu- 
macious.* They further resolved that "the same 
demand should in like manner be made of the 
Professors of Sacred Literature in the Leyden 

* Prsefat. Act. Synod. Dordr.— Trigl. Hist. p. 416, 417. 



JAMES AB1IINIUS. 341 

Academy, and of Peter Bertius, the Moderator of 
the Theological College. The affair was pushed 
with great vehemence at the time, some breaking 
out very intemperately against those of their 
brethren who differed from them in opinion; so 
much so, indeed, that Ruarcl Acronius, pastor of 
the church at Schiedam, was not afraid to call 
Francis Lansberg, who was simply striving to 
direct the counsels of this Assembly toward 
peace, a sink of dissensions* The States, how- 
ever, apprehensive lest, by this ecclesiastical 
statute, their own decree to have the above-named 
writings revised in a National or Provincial Synod 
should be eluded, and all but set at naught, gave 
orders, in a letter addressed to the several Classes, 
dated November 23, that whatever observations 
any one might have, were to be transmitted to 
them sealed, and intrusted to their custody against 
a Provincial Synod. By this step an end was 
forthwith put, in South Holland at least, to these 
hasty and ill-timed altercations, about subjecting 
those writings to a reexamination. Notwithstand- 
ing these things, however, the churches of North 
Holland did not abate one jot of their zeal. For 
new forms of subscription were coined by them, 
which every Classis drew up according to its own 

* Uitenb. Hist. Eccles. p. 446. 



842 THE LIFE OP 

mind ; and that, too, so craftily that neither copy 
nor form of the subscription was granted, nor the 
day indicated to him who demanded the day. In 
other places, also, new tests were proposed, and 
promises exacted to explain the Catechism as it had 
been explained in the Church during the time of the 
Spanish persecution.* And that statutes of this 
description might not pass for spent thunderbolts, 
they actually went the length, in the Classis of 
Alkmaar, of interdicting the pulpit, and a seat in 
the Classis, to four ministers — Adrian Van Rse- 
pherst, Arnold Folkartson, John Evertson Van 
Velsen, and William Lomannus, who were favor- 
able to Arminius, and refused to subscribe these 
new formularies : a stretch of authority of which 
the supreme magistracy in the first instance had 
not been made aware, and which they straight- 
way, withal, disapproved and contravened.^ 

In addition to all this, the deputies of both 
Synods further resolved to convey by letter an 
urgent request to Gomarus that he would come to 
the aid of the afflicted Church, (we may be per- 
mitted here to use their own words,) and not 
shrink from assaulting, in open conflict, Arminius 
himself, who in the public Assembly of the rulers 
had uttered so many things against the common 

* Vid. Press. Declar. Rem. p. 63. 
f Uitenb. Hist. Eccles. p. 454. 



JAMES AEMINIUS. 343 

opinion of the Church. This divine thought that 
the request was one which ought on no account to 
be refused ; and having previously obtained liberty 
to speak, on the 12th of December he presented 
himself before the Assembly of the States of 
Holland and West Friesland, and delivered him- 
self of a vehement oration against Arminius. He 
accused him of "various heresies and gross errors 
under which he labored in reference to the re- 
ceived doctrine concerning the grace of God. and 
the free will of man; concerning the justification 
of man in the sight of God ; concerning the per- 
fection of man in this life ; concerning predestina- 
tion ; concerning original sin, and other points 
connected with the forenamed doctrines : how 
well in certain things he agreed with the Pelagians 
and Jesuits, while in others his views were worse 
and still more corrupt than theirs: what just 
grounds he had moreover given for the suspicion 
that he also cherished corrupt opinions concerning 
the authority of the Sacred Scriptures; concern- 
ing the Holy Trinity; concerning the incarna- 
tion and satisfaction of Christ; concerning the 
Church ; concerning faith, regeneration, and good 
works, and other subjects of great importance. 
By what arts, still further, did he disseminate 
his opinions! When publicly asked, for exam- 
ple, and adjured by the churches to lay open 



344 THE LIFE OF 

his doubts, he had nevertheless to that hour 
concealed his own sentiments, but had diligently 
inculcated them in private to such pastors as he 
hoped to be able to gain over to them, as well 
as to his students : the principal arguments by 
which the orthodox doctrine is usually built up he 
set himself to invalidate ; but to those of Jesuits 
and other adversaries, with which they attack the 
doctrine of the Reformed Churches, he lent his 
support : he struck into the minds of his disci- 
ples a variety of doubts respecting the truth of 
the received doctrine, and first suspended it, along 
with the heterodox doctrine, as if in cequilibrio, 
and then utterly rejected it : after having called 
the Pope of the Romanists Antichrist and an idol, 
straightway, to please the Jesuits, he further calls 
him his brother, and a member of that Church 
which is the mother of the faithful : that he 
shunned the light; never to this hour having 
consented to give forth any declaration of his 
soundness and agreement in doctrine, although very 
often affectionately and fraternally urged by the 
churches to do so: that he had labored hard to 
prevent his errors, which had been detected before 
the Supreme Court, from becoming known to 
the churches : that, spurning the judgment and 
decrees of Synods, Classes, and Consistories, he 
had leaped at the first emergency to the tri- 



JAMES AEMINIUS. 345 

bunal of the Supreme Magistrate, and studied by 
courtly arts to conciliate favor for himself, but 
procure hatred for the churches. He (Gomarus) 
was not insensible how very difficult it was, and 
how hazardous a task, to encounter those who, 
while studying innovations, were in blushing honor 
at the Court, and rejoiced in a courtly trumpeter* 
of his innocence and virtue ; and that Constantine 
himself, in olden time, had attached such import- 
ance to the eloquence and surreptitious arts 
of that courtly preacher, Eusebius, as to be 
influenced by his vote in the Council of Nice to 
pcquit Arius after he had been condemned. Still, 
nowever, trusting to the goodness of his cause, 
he hoped better things of the constancy of the 
States ; and inasmuch as the students of theology 
in the Leyden Academy, and many pastors up and 
down, were daily swerving from the orthodox 
doctrine, strifes and contentions prevailed, the 
churches were disturbed, and the citizens were 
split up into parties, he adjured them as speedily 
as possible to convoke the promised National 
Synod, in which, after a legitimate investigation 
into the causes of the evils, an appropriate rem- 
edy might at length be applied to the same."f 

* Alluding to Uitenbogaert. 

f E Praefat. Act. Synod. Dordr. — Uitenb. Hist. Eccles. p. 455, et 
seq. 

15* 



34G THE LIFE OP 

This is a summary of that oration which was 
delivered by Gomarus ; and by most of the mag- 
nates it was regarded as abundantly stinging, con- 
taining, as it did, many things that were offen- 
sively spoken, and of which Arminius, on more 
occasions than one, had, by arguments the most 
solid, cleared himself of all suspicion, particularly 
in regard to those things that were advanced 
respecting the Pope of Rome. For this reason 
the States resolved that this oration should be 
kept under the seal of silence, and that no copy 
of it should be handed to Arminius, lest occasion 
might be furnished for further alienation of spirit. 
Nay, on accurately weighing the whole affair, they 
began to shrink more and more from the idea of 
convoking a Synod, and to decline convoking it at 
this time, as useless to the Church and to the 
country. For they happened to be perplexed by 
very serious disputes concerning the truce, in 
which the Grand Pensionary of Holland, Olclen- 
barneveldt, and the illustrious Commander of the 
Army and Prefect of Military Affairs, Prince 
Maurice, were far from being at one. A further 
obstacle presented itself in the disposition evinced 
by so many ministers of religion to trample under 
foot and set at naught the authority of the su- 
preme powers in relation to sacred things, assail- 
ing with special virulence the primary decree 



JAMES ARHINIUS. 347 

already mentioned, in terms of which it had been 
agreed that a Synod of the kind contemplated 
might be held with advantage. Besides, they 
had reason to fear that the minds of the ecclesias- 
tics were too much exasperated by these very 
serious discussions respecting matters of faith, to 
warrant the hope, now that things had reached 
such a pass, of any remedy being applied by a 
formal convention of that kind to the contagion 
that rioted throughout the Church. Nay, more : 
considering that the blasts of contention were 
increasing in violence, and that in various quarters 
some, in an attitude of open hostility, were doing 
their utmost to compass the ejection of their fel- 
low-pastors from the Church, the most of those 
who sat at the helm of the State thought it very 
hard indeed to expose to the rage of a few the 
reputation and worldly prospects of those who 
had amply approved themselves as citizens most 
obedient to their mandates, as pastors most accept- 
able to their churches, and as leaders of the 
Reformed religion by no means inactive, even at 
the time when the destiny of the Low Countries 
quivered on the point of the sword. When at 
this time, therefore, the pastors sent by the 
Classes of Holland importuned them to convoke a 
Provincial Synod, the rulers, perceiving that they 
were goaded on by a most inordinate desire for 



348 THE LIFE OF 

the condemnation of Arminius and his followers, 
rejected their petition, adding, " that they had no 
objection to give their sanction to a Synod at any 
time, provided it would abstain from the rash and 
precipitate condemnation of brethren, and yield to 
the wish of the rulers that they would not molest 
their fellow-pastors on account of these controver- 
sies until the matter should be more fully investi- 
gated and examined in a National Synod, and an 
agreement come to by which the churches might 
regain their common tranquillity and concord."* 
Reverting to this circumstance at a subsequent pe- 
riod, H. Grotius, that brilliant star and prodigy of 
the Low Countries, remarked — and apparently 
with truth — that the States had the same reason 
for dreading the Synod as that which formerly led 
the very sagacious Philip, Prince of Hesse, when 
invited to a Synod by Flacius Illyricus and other 
theologians of Jena, to reply, "that as long as 
there existed that violence of spirit, and that rage 
for condemning those who differed from them in 
opinion, even in the least degree — a disposition 
which every day exemplified — no good could be 
expected from such conventions." - )* 



* Resp. ad Epist. Wal. p. 18, 19. 
f Grot, pietas Ord. p. 51. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 349 



CHAPTER XII. 

EVER-INCREASING CONTENTIONS, AMD WHICH THE HEALTH 
OF ARMINIUS GIVES WAY — FINAL CONFERENCE AT THE 
HAGUE IN AUGUST, 1609 — HIS LAST ILLNESS AND 
DEATH. — A. D. 1609. 

Meanwhile, Arminius, by reason of incessant 
labors, assiduous studies, protracted sitting, and 
contests recurring without any intermission, had 
contracted hypochondriacal affections, which ripened 
at length into obstinate disease. This distemper, 
which had very long been latent in his internal 
parts, broke out with special violence on the 7th 
of February, in the following year. His members 
were affected by internal languor, and his stomach 
utterly debilitated ; so much so, that his medical 
attendants at once saw it to be necessary to 
subject him to slow and cautious treatment. But 
although, at the commencement of the attack, the 
sufferer could scarcely drag his body along, never- 
theless, afterwards, during some favorable inter- 
vals, he regained his vigor of mind, and inter- 
mitted nothing, as far as his infirm health would 



350 THE LIFE OP 

permit, of his readings, disputations, and other 
duties of his calling ; nor was he ever neglectful 
of his own cause. Of this he gave brilliant evidence 
in a certain disputation which he publicly held a 
few months after, on the 25th July, Concerning 
the Call of Man to Salvation. On this occasion, 
Arminius acted a very spirited part ; and in elo- 
quent terms not only denied that irresistible and 
necessitating force which some of the Reformed 
represent God as exerting in the conversion of 
men, but further proceeded to prove that the 
Divine call turns on this : either that God sup- 
plies, or is ready to bestow, the power to perform 
that to which, in his call, he invites mankind. Pie 
further added, " that he neither could, nor dared, 
to define the mode which the Holy Spirit employs 
in the conversion and regeneration of men. If 
any one will venture to do so, on him devolves 
the burden of proof. For himself, he could say 
in what manner conversion did not take place, but 
he could not say in what manner it did ; for this 
only He knows who searches the deep things of 
God." To this it was objected that there was a 
certain kind of grace by which men are infallibly 
converted, and from this it was directly argued 
that conversion was necessitated; in answer to 
which, Arminius took occasion to discourse at 
some length on what the schoolmen call, though 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 351 

very improperly, the necessity of infallibility ; and 
added, " that the scholastics were not to him the 
standard of speech or of faith, seeing that they 
began to exist only when Antichrist was in course 
of being revealed, and that their theology had not 
made way until the true and apostolic theology 
had been driven into exile." 

After a period of nearly two whole hours had 
been lengthened out by two opponents, a certain 
Papist, who passed off his name as Adrian Sme- 
tius, and whom some took for a priest, others for 
a Jesuit, boldly descended into the arena against 
Arminius, and assailed his opinion on the point in 
question with a variety of arguments. While 
Arminius was ever and anon replying to these 
with prompt and collected mind, Gomarus assumed 
various colors on the occasion ; and that he might 
not present the appearance of a merely passive 
listener, he varied his gestures now and then ; at 
one time taking notes ; at another whispering 
something into the ear of Everard Vorstius, Pro- 
fessor of Medicine, who sat next him ; now cast- 
ing his eyes over the audience, which was very 
large ; and now muttering something between his 
lips. Nay, he looked as if he felt an intense 
desire to contradict the things advanced in the 
course of the disputation, but repressed himself — 
after such a fashion, however, that these, or simi- 



352 THE LIFE OF 

lar words, fell from him in the overflow of his 
indignation : " What impudence is this f Moreover, 
after the disputation had come to a close, he had 
scarcely reached the hall door, when he broke out 
in the words : "The reins have been remarkably 
well loosened for the Papacy this day" Directly, 
after, in like manner, making up to Arminius, he 
exclaimed in the presence and hearing of the 
Jesuit, "that he had never, in the Academy, 
listened to such statements and disputations, by 
which the door was thrown so widely open to 
Popery." * Arminius replied, " that he had given 
satisfaction to his own conscience, and denied that 
what he had advanced made any thing at all in 
favor of Popery." Gomarus forthwith rejoined 
" that he would refute these things, and that too 
in public." Arminius : " If any thing be said 
which is opposed to my conscience, I promise you 
that I, in my turn, will openly gainsay it." Go- 
marus : " I shall not be wanting in my duty to 
the cause." Arminius : "Neither shall I be want- 
ing, I confidently trust. But let us test each 
other in due time ; and to me it is certain that the 
opinion of an irresistible force will be found repug- 
nant alike to the Sacred Scripture, to antiquity, 
and to our Confession and Catechism."* 

* Vide his de hac disput. Epist. Borrii ad Epist. 30 Julii script, 
inter Epist. Eccles. 



JAMES AE JUNIUS. 353 

After holding this disputation, he repaired to 
Oudewater with the view of recruiting his health; 
and there, on the very night which followed the 
debate just narrated, he was seized with a most 
violent paroxysm, which once more shattered his 
strength, and struck alarm into the minds of all 
who enjoyed his care and his intimacy. Simon 
Episcopius, in particular, who had by this time 
gone to Franeker, mainly for the sake of hearing 
the lectures of Drusius, felt very deeply affected 
by the adverse health of his great preceptor, 
(whom he was wont to address by the name of 
father,) as these words to Arminius abundantly 
testify : 

" Reverend Doctor and esteemed Father : — 
Although I have not written you since my depart- 
ure, I trust you will attribute this, not to any 
forgetfulness of you, or supine and ungrateful 
indifference to your claims, but partly to my 
assurance of the peculiar affection which I have 
very forcibly and confidently flattered myself 
you cherish toward me, and partly, and very 
principally, to my desire not to be officiously 
troublesome to you, already too much harassed ; 
especially considering that over and above your 
serious and grave occupations, which, by a univer- 
sal and simultaneous rush, are now, I well know, 
accumulating upon your head, you are ever and 



354 THE LIFE OP 

anon distracted by the oft-recurring agonies of an 
obstinate disease. In these circumstances, not 
having the boldness to address you, nor the ability 
to cheer and refresh you, I deemed it enough to 
convey to you my grateful remembrance, and the 
frequent expression of my affection, through those 
to whom I occasionally wrote. How I wish, 
Reverend Sir — and that God might grant — that 
it may be permitted us to have a joyous remem- 
brance of you in this truly abandoned age, to 
which God appears to have given promise of some 
remedy through your instrumentality. Would 
that it may not prove to have been promise 
merely ! For how stands the case ? Alas ! amid 
our anxious longings, and repeated attempts to 
brace up our minds to the confidence of hope, the 
only intelligence we receive is that your disease 
has not yet abated, but holds obstinately on, and 
that it is irritated by the malignant and choleric 
conduct of certain parties, which causes it to 
relapse with increased severity. For my part, if 
you will only concede to me the capability of 
weighing your circumstances with some measure 
of justice, and estimating, in some sort, at once 
the utility and the necessity of your prelections, 
you need be at no loss to imagine how deeply I 
am distressed by the present visitation. Ungrate- 
ful should I be were any day to pass over my 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 355 

head which did not, at frequent intervals, remind 
and admonish me of your disease — a consideration, 
in truth, which so afflicts me from day to day, that, 
along with it, a sort of sympathetic participation 
of your malady ever affects and invades me. 
"Would to God this went so far, that some allevia- 
tion or solace might thence redound to you ! But 
perhaps it may not seem good to our God to bless 
any longer through your instrumentality this 
unwilling, ungrateful, and refractory world, which 
does not choose to know the things that make for 
its peace, or to recognize the time of its visita- 
tion."* 

Meanwhile, as the rising controversies, which 
had now for some time been transferred from the 
schools to the pulpit — yea, and to the market- 
places, the streets, and the porticoes — engaged 
the minds of men alike of the highest and of the 
lowest rank ; and while many, through ignorance, 
were assigning to Arminius the opinion of Goma- 
rus, and to Gomarus the opinion of Arminius, 
some person, in the course of this year, (1609,) 
with the view of enabling every one to understand 
more accurately the state of this controversy, 
published a translation from the Latin into the 
vernacular tongue of the theses of both the pro- 

* Epist. Eccles. pag. 228. 



356 .THE LIFE OP 

fessors on the subject of Predestination, as they 
had been defended by them respectively a few 
years before, [namely, in 1604.] These were 
followed by a Dialogue from the pen of R. Don- 
teklok, minister of Delft, in which he asserted 
that the opinion of Arminius was altogether op- 
posed to the Reformed doctrine as received in the 
Low Countries, and Was such as could not be 
tolerated in any divine; while the opinion of 
Gomarus, on the other hand, although in his 
judgment it soared beyond the prevailing opinion, 
was nevertheless fairly reconcilable therewith. 
This Dialogue was promptly refuted, and the fame 
of Arminius vindicated, by J. Arnold Corvinus, 
minister of the church at Leyden, in a pamphlet 
he published under the title of A Christian and 
serious Admonition to Christian Peace. To this 
pamphlet, not long after, Donteklok replied. The 
friends of Arminius, too, with the view of dissi- 
pating the very sinister rumors with which he 
had been assailed, translated about this time 
from the Latin, and submitted to the judgment 
of the public, his theses on The Providence of God 
concerning Evil ; On Mans Free Will and its Effi- 
cacy ; and also those On Indulgences and Purga- 
tory^ which were put out against the Papists. 
But these minor publications, so far from promot- 
ing the peace of the Church, operated, as the 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 357 

discord daily increased, like oil poured upon the 
flame. 

Taking this into consideration, it pleased the 
States of Holland and Westfriesland that a friend- 
ly conference should he held anew before their 
assembly betwixt Gomarus and Arminius, in 
regard to the articles controverted between them, 
in which either professor for himself might choose 
four ministers of whose counsels it should be 
competent to him to avail himself. Arminius 
made choice of John Uitenbogaert, of the Hague ; 
Adrian Borrius, of Leyden ; Nicolas Grevinko- 
vius, of Rotterdam; and Adolphus Venator, of 
Alkmaar. Gomarus, on the other hand, chose R. 
Acronius, of Schiedam; James Roland, of Am- 
sterdam; John Bogard, of Haarlem; and Festus 
Hommius, of Le} r den. 

The first and second days were consumed by 
various wrangiings and tergiversations. In par- 
ticular, Gomarus thought that Adolphus Venator 
was not worthy to take part in the convention, 
inasmuch as he had been ordered by the Classis 
of Alkmaar to desist for the time being from the 
discharge of ecclesiastical functions, on the ground 
of impure doctrine, and of his refusal to subscribe 
to the Confession and Catechism; for which rea- 
sons he demanded that another should be substi- 
tuted in his place. The States rejoined that the 



358 THE LIFE OF 

censure thus inflicted by the Classis contravened 
the decree which they (the States) had issued 
with respect to the revisal of these formularies 
of agreement ; and this censure, having thus been 
rendered by them null and void, availed nothing 
against Adolphus in any respect. 

A lengthened discussion then ensued on the 
subject of this revisal ; the States demanding that 
this point should be handled first, as the hinge on 
which their own decree turned as to the holding 
of a Synod. After the two professors had debated 
the matter at full length, Uitenbogaert took occa- 
sion, in a weighty speech, to expound his mind 
also on this same point. 

At last, when about to enter upon the real 
question, Gomarus appealed from this political to 
an ecclesiastical tribunal, before which he was 
prepared to discuss the controverted points in the 
presence of delegates from the States.* 

The States, on the other hand, refused to sus- 
tain any such appeal ; told him to break off these 
tergiversations ; and added, " that if he prolonged 
his pertinacious opposition, they would see to 
what, in the circumstances, it was their duty to 
do." This brought Gomarus to dismiss his quib- 
bles ; and on the day following he declared his 

* Vid. Uitenbog. Hist. pag. 462. 



JAMES ARM INI US. 359 

readiness to obey the mandate of the rulers, but 
on these conditions : 

I. That this conference be conducted in writing, 
to be handed in on both sides. 

II. That these writings be delivered to the Na- 
tional Synod for their inspection and adjudication, 
in order that the right of judgment, in an ecclesi- 
astical cause, might be reserved entire to the 
churches. 

III. That the conference commence with the 
subject of Justification.* 

After some discussion as to the order in which 
the various articles ought to be considered, Ar- 
minius at length gave his consent that the one to 
be first handled should be Justification. The 
States, however, ruled that the conference should 
be conducted viva voce; yet not to the exclusion 
of writing, when used as an aid to the memory. 
They further engaged, in a public letter pledging 
themselves to that effect, that the cause, after 
they had investigated it in that conference, should 
be reserved to the judgment of a Provincial Sy- 
nod, and that, for this end, all things that might 
there be transacted viva voce, should subsequently 
be committed to writing, and that these documents 
would in due course be handed over to the Synod. 

* Prsefat. Act. Synod. 



360 THE LIFE OF 

Among the first articles treated of at this confer- 
ence, the controversy concerning Justification led 
the way ; just as, on a previous occasion, it had also 
been discussed before the Supreme Court. This 
turned mainly on the sense of the apostle's phrase, 
that " faith is imputed for righteousness."* Both 
doctors agreed in holding that the passage referred 
to treated of faith properly so called, but differed 
on the question, whether faith was the instrument 
of justification. Gomarus held the affirmative. 
Arminius held the negative ; maintaining that 
faith could not properly be called an instrument, 
seeing it was an action ; or, if the name instru- 
ment must be claimed for it, it would then be the 
instrument, not of justification, which is an act 
of the Divine mind, but of the apprehension or 
reception of Christ as our Redeemer, which is a 
human act ; and that faith is graciously regarded 
by God, in the act of justifying, as having already 
fulfilled its function.*)* 

In the second place they treated of Predestina- 
tion, and first of all, of the object of election and 
reprobation : whether God, in electing and repro- 
bating, in one and the same act, regarded his 
creatures as not yet created — as in the void of 

* Rom. iv. 5. 

f Rom. iv. 5. Ex Epist. A. Borrii ad G. Liv. non dum edita, 29 
Septemb., 1609. Vide et Uitenb. Hist. pag. 469. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 361 

nothing — or, on the other hand, as created : fur- 
ther, if he regarded them as created, whether he 
regarded them as sinners, or otherwise : if as 
sinners, wmether as sinners solely by the sin of 
Adam, or, on the other hand, as sinners defiled by 
other sins also : finally, and as the crowning point, 
whether he contemplated those to be chosen as 
also believing and penitent, and those to be repro- 
bated as unbelieving and impenitent. Arminius 
maintained this, Gromarus the opposite ; a variety 
of arguments being adduced on either side. 

The third place was occupied with the contro- 
versy Concerning the grace of God and the free-tuill 
of man. Each acknowledged that man of himself, 
and by his own powers, could accomplish nothing 
whatever in the shape of saving good ; nay, Ar- 
minius declared, " that he admitted all the opera- 
tions of Divine grace whatsoever, which could be 
maintained as present in the conversion of man, 
provided that no grace were maintained which was 
irresistible."* This Gomarus disputed ; maintain- 
ing " that, in the regeneration of man, a certain 
grace of the Holy Spirit was needed which should 
operate so efficaciously that, the resistance of the 
flesh being thereby overcome, as many as became 
partakers of this grace would be certainly and 



* Praefat. Act. Synod. 

16 



362 THE LIFE OP 

infallibly converted." He added that a great am- 
biguity lurked in the word irresistible, and that the 
opinion, formerly condemned, of the Semi-pela- 
gians and Synergists lay wrapped up in it. 

The last topic of discussion was the Persever- 
ance of true believers; and here the question was 
stirred, not, indeed, whether the children of God 
can fall away from salvation, but whether a man 
-who has once believed cannot, by any possibility, 
fall away from faith. This was a doctrine which 
Arminius declared he had by no means opposed, 
or meant to oppose; but he intimated that his 
mind was perplexed by several difficulties on this 
subject, and he adduced various reasons for the 
doubts he entertained. To these Gomarus re- 
plied ; after which the disputants were asked 
whether any articles yet remained on which they 
mutually differed. Gomarus rejoined that there 
were several; namely, concerning Original Sin, con- 
cerning the providence of God, concerning the author- 
ity of the Holy Scriptures, concerning the certainty 
of salvation, concerning the perfection of man in this 
life, and various others, in regard to which he 
left it to the discretion of the illustrious States 
whether they should be discussed in this place, 
especially as they must again come under discus- 
sion in the Synod.* 

* Prsefat. Act. Synod. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 363 

But as the shattered health of Arminius, which 
betrayed itself by too evident symptoms under 
this very conference, appeared unable to sustain 
any longer the effort of debate, it pleased the 
States to break it short. They also ordered the 
disputants to deliver each his own opinion, drawn 
up in writing, with the arguments on which it 
rested, and the refutation of the contrary, within 
the space of fourteen days ; to remain in posses- 
sion of the States till the Provincial Synod. 
There were present at the Conference from the 
city of Amsterdam, the honorable rulers, Jacob 
Boelius, Cornelius P. F. Hoofdius, Cronhout, Se- 
bastian Egberts, Jonas Witzen, and Elb. Verius, 
Syndic of Amsterdam.* 

After the conference had thus come to a close, 
it further seemed good to the States to summon 
before them, apart, the assessors of each doctor, 
that they might severally state their opinions, not 
only in regard to the importance of these contro- 
versies, but also as to the remedies by which they 
might be allayed. On this point, however, there 
w T as the utmost diversity of sentiment. Those 
who stood by Gomarus exaggerated the import- 
ance of the controversies, and indicated no remedy 
other than the convocation, as speedily as possi- 

* Ex Epist. vernacula Jac. Arininii ad R. Episcop. 26 Aug., 1609. 



364 THE LIFE OP 

ble, of a Provincial or National Synod. On the 
other hand, the assessors and coadjutors of Ar- 
minius, on being heard by themselves, gave it as 
their opinion, that that question concerning Justi- 
fication was either of no importance, or at most 
of very trivial importance, and could be settled 
without difficulty, if acrimony and ill-will were 
but laid aside, and due homage paid to peace and 
truth. With regard to the opinion of Arminius 
concerning Predestination, and questions therewith 
connected, considering that it was in harmony 
with Sacred Scripture, as well as simple, easily 
intelligible, and free of subtleties, they thought 
that it commended itself as much the better 
adapted of the two for the ends of consolation 
and instruction. In favor of Arminius was the 
entire tenor of the gospel; while the opinion of 
Gomarus transcended the gospel ; and he himself, 
in a certain thesis, had ultroneously confessed 
that the doctrine of predestination, as he taught 
it, did not, properly speaking, pertain to the 
gospel. 

The Rev. J. Uitenbogaert next, in name of all 
the rest, discoursed, in an oration replete with 
varied erudition and eloquence, concerning the 
causes of the growing dissensions, and how they 
were to be remedied ; what care in these contro- 
versies belonged to the States ; and how far in 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 365 

this matter their power extended.* But particu- 
larly in regard to the Synod, which most believed 
to be the sheet-anchor of the imperilled Church, 
he declared " that it was by no means useless ; yea, 
that it might, according to the state of times and 
circumstances, be necessary, provided care were ta- 
ken to prevent — what the famous Beza elsewhere 
affirmed of the assemblies of the Ancient Church — 
the Devil from acting in it as president ; to fore- 
close which danger there did not exist any remedy 
more effectual, than that the illustrious rulers, 
according to the authority which they possessed, 
should convoke a Synod thoroughly free and just, 
in which not only Arminius and Gomarus, but all 
who may happen to have some doubts and stric- 
tures on the controversies referred to, may be fully 
heard, and their reasons duly weighed according 
to the Sacred Volume. It ought, moreover, to be 
taken into consideration what was the aim which 
that Synod should propose to itself. Under the 
impulse of that prejudiced sentiment and high tide 
of excitement by which at this time they were 
borne along, the greater part had this only as the 
object of their desire, that the majority should 
condemn the minority, and pronounce judgment 
in reference to these controversies in a manner 

* Vide Orationem hanc in Uitenbog. Hist. lib. 3, p. 480. 



366 THE LIFE OF 

altogether definitive and peremptory; and what 
sort of evils would thenceforth rush from that 
fountain, no candid discerner of events could be 
at a loss to conjecture. This Synod, therefore, 
ought to be convened for friendly conference 
between parties opposed to each other on contro- 
verted points, and to see whether they might not 
be able to agree among themselves. But if there 
seemed nothing to warrant the hope that this 
matter would be disposed of so promptly, and at 
one assembly, the safety of the State and Church 
would be best consulted were the illustrious 
States, by a formula of mutual forbearance on 
points that are less essential, to put an end in 
some measure, if only for a time, to such ecclesi- 
astical contentions." 

Shortly after these transactions, Gomarus trans- 
mitted in writing, within the time prescribed by 
the States, those opinions which he had orally 
defended before their assembly.* Arminius, how- 
ever, on being conveyed home from the Hague, 
had scarcely composed himself to the task of 
obeying the mandates of the rulers, when the 
disease in its malignant form again attacked him 
anew, and that with an aggravated severity pro- 
portioned to the increased intensity it had gained 

* Prcefat. Act. Synod. 



JAMES A EM INI US. 367 

from a harassed mind and debilitated energies. 
But he in the highest degree consoled himself, 
according to God and the testimony of his con- 
science, with this one reflection, that in the 
supreme Assembly of all Holland he had been 
patiently listened to by his most clement lords, to 
whose prudence he attributed so much as to en- 
courage the hope that, in the event of his death, 
there would not be wanting among them those 
who, once satisfied of the justice of his cause, 
would throw around it the protective influence of 
their wisdom and favor. He sent, however, by 
letter, on the 12th September, a modest excuse to 
the States as to his inability to fulfil their com- 
mands by the appointed day ; in which he stated, 
" that he was confined to a sick-bed, after having 
already drawn up a considerable part of the pre- 
scribed document, which now — such being the will 
of the Divine Disposer — he was obliged to break 
off. His having been heard on a previous occa,- 
sion, and the whole case at that time having been 
exhibited in writing, might be accepted in dis- 
charge of the present necessity. If, however, 
they at all desired the portion he had executed, 
he would take care either that, in the event of his 
being by the grace of Christ restored to health, they 
should have the whole perfect and entire, or that, 
in the event of his decease, they should have it 



368 THE LIFE OF 

in its abrupt and imperfect form. With regard, 
however, to the Confession he had given forth, so 
far was he from entertaining any doubt respecting 
it, that, on the contrary, he steadfastly believed 
it to be throughout in accordance with Scripture ; 
he* therefore persisted in it, being prepared with 
this very faith to appear, even at that very 
moment, before the tribunal of Jesus Christ, the 
Son of God, the Judge of the living and of the 
dead." ::: 

Meanwhile, his disease gathered strength every 
day, in spite of every effort to arrest it by those 
most eminent and practiced physicians, Doctors 
Pavius, Sebastian Egberts, Henry Sselius, and 
Reyner Bontius. The virulence of the malady, 
moreover, too deejily seated for medical art and 
appliance to eradicate it, daily developed new 
symptoms — fever, cough, enlargement of the hy- 
pochondria, difficulty of respiration, oppression 
from food, broken sleep, atrophy, and arthritis, 
which allowed the sufferer no rest. In complica- 
tion with these were intestinal pains — in the ilium 
and colon; together with affection of the left 
optic nerve, and dimness of the left eye. When 
this last affection became known, there were some 
who, abating nothing even then of their wonted 

* Uitenbog. Hist. pag. 470. Bertii Oratio pag. 36. 



JAMES AKMINIUS. 369 

rancor against him, did not scruple to interpret it 
as one of the judgments dealt out to the con- 
temners of the Divine Majesty. To give some 
speciousness to this outrage, they bandied about, 
with application to Arminius, these words of the 
inspired prophet Zechariah,* in which he speaks 
of the wasting away of the eyes and of the whole 
body : " This shall be the plague wherewith the 
Lord will smite all the people that have fought 
against Jerusalem : their flesh shall consume away 
while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes 
shall consume away in their holes, and their 
tongue shall consume away in their mouth." To 
this passage, they appended another i'rom the 
same prophetic book :f "Woe to the idol shepherd 
that leaveth the flock ! the sword shall be upon 
his arm, and upon his right eye : his arm shall be 
clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly 
darkened."! 

There were some also who, by a play on the 



* Chap. xiv. 12. f Chap. xi. 17. 

J "And yet," says Bertius, in allusion to this barbarous diversion, 
" it was not 'his right eye' that was affected, but his left ; nor was it 
'utter darkness,' but only a dimness; nor was his arm 'clean dried 
up,' but it was swollen. His tongue, too, articulately fulfilled its 
office to the very last. In this manner things above, and things be- 
low, on the right and the left, Divine and human, are alike made to 
subserve the will of these wretched oracular expounders of the mys- 
teries of Providence I" — Orat. in obit. Arminii. — Tr. 

16* 



370 THE LIFE OF 

name James Arminius, [Jacobus Arminius,] made 
him out to be a friend of this vain world. [Vani 
Orbis Amicus.] While others, subsequently, with 
the view of pouring ridicule upon this anagram, 
worked up another from the same name, with the 
addition of a single letter,* in which he is himself 
introduced as saying, / have had a care for Sion. 
[Habui Curam Sionis.] Meanwhile Arminius, 
though day by day the violence of the disease shook 
his frame more and more, preserved unshaken his 
constancy of mind and placidity of temper, and 
retained his power of articulate utterance to the 
very close of life. Nor did he betray the least 
abatement of his wonted cheerfulness of aspect 
and kindliness of disposition; charging his afflict- 
ed and anguish-stricken wife to be resigned in 
spirit, and very often exhorting her to put her 
trust in the God of the widow. 

Very frequently, too, and with the utmost fer- 
vor, did he pour out his supplications unto God, 
both for himself, and for the prosperity and peace 
of the Church; and in all his conversations he 
testified his unmoved confidence and thoroughly 
unshaken hope in Christ the Saviour. And if his 
brethren addressed themselves to prayer on his 
behalf, and he happened at the time to be over- 

* The letter h, which occurs in his original name Hermanns. 



JAMES A.B3IINIUS. 371 

powered by pain, he would request them now and 
then to pause, until he had recovered himself, and 
become able along with them to go through this 
solemn exercise. 

Among many forms of prayer which he spe- 
cially enjoyed and frequently used, the following 
were prominent : " Lord Jesus, thou faithful 
and merciful High Priest, who consentedst to be 
in all things tempted like as we are, yet without 
sin, that, taught by this experience how hard it 
is to obey God in sufferings, thou mightest be 
touched with a feeling of our infirmities, have 
compassion on me, succor me, thy servant pros- 
trate, and pressed with so many maladies. 
God of my salvation, make my soul fit for thy 
heavenly kingdom, and my body for the resurrec- 
tion. Great Shepherd of the sheep, who, through 
the blood of the everlasting covenant, hast been 
brought again from the dead, Lord and Saviour 
Jesus, be present with me, an infirm and afflicted 
sheep of thine."* Very often to the friends at 
his bedside did he repeat the twentieth and follow- 
ing verse of the thirteenth chapter of Hebrews, 
from which he had drawn this last form of prayer; 
and this passage of Holy Writ he used to utter 
with such ardor of mind and overflowing fervor 



* Vide Bertii Orat. Funebr. in obitum J. Arminii, pag. 



40. 



372 THE LIFE OP 

of spirit, that the Rev. Bartholomew Prsevostius, 
a disciple most worthy of such a preceptor, and 
who was afterwards pastor of the Remonstrant 
church in Amsterdam, was wont to declare that it 
remained ever after indelibly fixed in his memory, 
and vividly present to his mind. 

About the same time, also, from a desire to pay 
the last offices of piety to his preceptor, the very 
learned Simon Episcopius hastened from Franeker 
to Holland, and for several days and nights kept 
close by his bedside, interchanging much conver- 
sation with him on the subject of religion, the 
state of the Church, the knowledge of the Sa- 
viour, and the efficacy of his death and resurrec- 
tion.* 

Moreover, on being admonished by his physi- 
cians, as his strength declined, of the urgent 
propriety, considering the uncertain issues of life, 
of setting his house in order, and embodying in a 
last will whatever charges he might wish to leave, 
so little did he dread the approach of the fatal 
hour, that he resigned himself to death with truly 
admirable composure of mind, and set himself to 
transact whatever duty required of a Christian 
teacher and head of a family. At this solemn 
season, accordingly, he drew up a testament, truly 

* Vide vitam Episcop a. Ph. Limburg. concionibus ejus prtefixam. 



JAMES AEMINIUS. 373 

Christian in its character ; and dictated in it a 
brief statement of his aims and manner of life. 
Mark the following confession of the dying man, 
as a signal index and evidence of his piety : 

" First of all, I commend my soul, when it quits 
the body, into the hands of God, its creator and 
faithful preserver, in' whose presence I testify that 
in simplicity and sincerity I have walked with a 
good conscience in my office and calling; very 
anxiously and scrupulously on my guard not to 
propound or teach aught which, by diligent appli- 
cation to the study of the Sacred Scriptures, I 
had not previously found to be in strictest har- 
mony with these writings ; whatsoever things 
might prove conducive to the propagation and 
extension of the truth of the Christian religion, 
of the worship of the true God, of piety in gen- 
eral, and holy conversation among men ; in fine, 
to the tranquillity and peace, according to the 
Word of God, which becomes the Christian name; 
excluding the Papacy, with which no unity of 
faith, no bond of piety or Christian peace, can be 
maintained." 

These things having been transacted, and all his 
affairs set in order, the few days that yet remained 
were spent in the invocation of Christ the Saviour, 
and in meditation on the better life. During this 
period, his reverend brethren, J. Uitenbogaert 



374 THE LIFE OF 

and Adrian Borrius, who were each closely knit 
to him in the bonds of a most intimate friendship 
contracted many years before, and by a commu- 
nity of vicissitudes of a varied and critical kind, 
excelled all others in their assiduous attentions, 
which were to him most grateful, and refreshed 
his spirit by their much-relished conversations and 
prayers. But at length, on the 19th of October, 
about noon, amidst the prayers of his friends, 
with his eyes upturned toward heaven, he peace- 
fully yielded up to his creator, God, his soul, 
brimful of this world's woes, already longing for 
release, and enjoying a foretaste of celestial bliss ; 
several present exclaiming, as he breathed out his 
spirit, " my soul, let me die the death of the 
righteous !"* 

Thus died James Arminius, having completed a 
period of six years in the professorship, and in the" 
forty-ninth year of his age — a truly mournful loss, 
not only to the Academy and the Christian com- 
munity, but also, and most of all, to his widow 
and nine children, of whom the eldest at that 
time had little more than attained the seventeenth 
year of his age. Among these were two little 
daughters, Gertrude and Angelica : the rest were 
males — Hermann, Peter, John, Lawrence, James, 

* Bertii Oratio Funebr. pag. 43. — Et Uitenb. Hist. pag. 483. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 375 

William, and Daniel; of whom Lawrence, on 
reaching manhood, became a merchant in the city 
of Amsterdam, while Daniel prosecuted the medi- 
cal art with the highest reputation. The remain- 
ing sons, after the decease of their beloved father, 
died in the very flower of their youth. 



376 THE LIFE OF 



CHAPTER XIII. 

SKETCH OF THE PEESON AND CHAKACTEK OF ARMINIUS ; 
WITH A VARIETY OF TESTIMONIES IN REGARD TO HIM, 
BOTH FROM FRIENDS AND FOES. — A. D. 1609. 

On the day on which Arminius was interred, 
Peter Bertius, Regent of the theological college, 
and a most accomplished man, publicly conducted 
the solemnities by a funeral-oration in honor of 
Arminius, in the theological hall. In this oration 
(from which, in the present little work, we have 
very freely drawn) he gives some brief account 
of the life and excellences of the deceased ; add- 
ing toward the close, that his blessed memory 
ought to be embalmed in the Christian Church, 
with this eulogium : " There lived in Holland a 

MAN, WHOM THEY THAT DID NOT KNOW HIM COULD NOT 
SUFFICIENTLY ESTEEM; WHOM THEY WHO DID NOT ES- 
TEEM HIM HAD NEVER SUFFICIENTLY KNOWN." 

The same kind office which Bertius performed 
in his prose oration, was also publicly rendered in 
song by those world-renowned men and consum- 



JAMES Afi'MINIUS. 377 

mate poets, Dominic Baud and Hugh Grotius, 
whose elegiac poems we have subjoined at the 
close of this memoir. To these we add a distin- 
guished little poem of Daniel Heinsius, omitted in 
the collection of his poems — for what reasons, it 
is not difficult to conjecture — in which, by means 
of a comparison which he institutes between Ar- 
minius, the champion of the ancient liberty of the 
Batavians, and our Arminius, he thus celebrates, 
in a strain of singular elegance, the service ren- 
dered by the latter in withstanding the tyranny 
of the Romanists : 

"In Obitum Rev. D. Jacobi Arminii, Summi Pontificiorum Op- 
pugnatoris. 

-"Ingentem Dominum rerum Martisque nepotem 

Germanus olim fregit Armini vigor, 
Ausus inaccessam Romano opponere gentem, 

Nihil timere doctus et fortis mori. 
Horruit et nostro Tiberis se subdidit Albi, 

Martisque gentem fcedus invasit timor. 
Quintilise cecidere acies, terramque momordit 

Ferox juventus, unico minor viro. 
Nunc alter Batavo de sanguine fortis et acer, 

Et veritate armatus, et fandi potens. 
Mendacem invasit sublimi pectore Romam, 

Hoc quern sepulchro terra victorem tegit. 
Sic fuit in fatis : laudem hanc Germania servas, 

Bis Roma nostros non tulisti Arminios."* 

* The name of this ancient patriot was Hermann, (i. e., chief-man 
or chieftain,) Latinized by Tacitus and other Roman historians into 
Arminius. He nourished at the very commencement of our era, and 
•withstood the power of imperial Rome in many a hard-fought field. 
The particular exploit here alluded to was the total destruction, by 



378 THE LIFE OP 

It now remains that we subjoin a brief sketch 
of Arminius, descriptive at once of his person and 



the hand of Arminius and his German warriors, of three Roman 
legions under Quintilius Varus, who, with their general, fell almost to 
a man in the woody pass of the Teutoburger AVald — an event which 
struck terror into the heart of Rome, the aged Emperor Augustus 
calling out in his grief for Varus to give him back his legions. This 
will sufficiently explain the allusions that occur in this little piece, 
the conception of which was furnished by the coincidence in the two 
names, and in Rome being in each case the party opposed. The ver- 
sification is exquisite to a degree which renders translation an unin- 
viting and somewhat perilous task. But for the sake of the English 
reader, in whose special service we are now engaged, we will adven- 
ture the following : 

On the death of the Rev. Doctor James Arminius, a renowned op- 
poser of the Papists. 

Rome's lordly legions, sprung of Mars, 

Of old the valiant Hermann broke: 
Untaught to fear, untamed by wars, 

The dauntless Germans spurned the yoke. 
Old Tiber, trembling at the shock, 

Bowed to our Elbe his crested pride : 
Hosts melted under Hermann's stroke, 
The flower of Rome in battle died; 
And Varus' legions sunk undone, 
Crushed by the giant might of one. 

Behold another Hermann strong! 

A Hermann of Batavian blood; 
Begirt with truth, of golden tongue, 

And lofty, lion-hearted mood: 
Apostate Rome he well withstood; 

But now in death our hero sleeps — 
So Heaven decreed, all-wise and good — 

And o'er his tomb Germania weeps; 
But "Rome!" she boasts, "Thou Queen of pride! 
Thee have my Hermanns twice defied." — Tr. 






JAMES ARM1NIUS. 379 

his mind. In bodily stature he did not exceed 
the medium size. His eyes were black and spark- 
ling, indicating acuteness of mind and genius. 
His countenance was serene. His bodily temper- 
ament was sanguineous ; his limbs well compacted, 
and, at the prime of life, somewhat robust. His 
voice was slender, indeed, but sweet, musical, and 
sharp. He was eloquent in an admirable degree : 
if any subject was to be embellished, if any dis- 
cussed, it was done with distinctness; the pro- 
nunciation and intonation of voice being tho- 
roughly adapted to the sense.* As respects his 
general bearing, he was courteous and affable 
toward all, respectful to superiors, hospitable, 
cheerful, and no way disinclined among his friends 
to harmless sallies of wit, by way of mental 
relaxation ; but in all that constitutes the man 
of gravity, the Christian, and the consummate 
teacher of the Church, as far as human infirmity 
could permit, he was second to none. He adored 
with profound veneration the supreme and ever- 
blessed God ; and never allowed a day to pass 
without pious meditation, and perusal of the Sacred 
Scriptures, making a commencement with fervid 
prayers ; and in order to make the greater prog- 
ress in the cultivation of piety and the truth, he 

* Baudart Hist. 



380 THE LIFE OF 

occasionally followed up these prayers with fast- 
ing. He wished to be, rather than to appear 
pious ; and regarded nothing as of greater moment 
than to regulate all his actions, not by the opinion 
of others, but by the dictate of a pure conscience ; 
and to confirm by his own example the truth 
of his own maxim, in which he preeminently 
delighted: "Bona Conscientia Paradisus" — "A 
Good Conscience is a Paradise." 

As respects the cultivation of piety, and the 
regard to be paid to conscience, he also acknow- 
ledged that much on his part was due to the 
ecclesiastical function to which, in the very flower, 
of his youth, he had already been destined. For 
this reason, he marked off for special castigation 
those persons who — as if they bore universal 
knowledge about with them locked up in the 
cabinet of their own breast — judged themselves 
entitled, on being asked their opinion on any sub- 
ject, to speak forth none other than oracular 
utterances to be received with open ears and obse- 
quious minds. No object, moreover, lay nearer 
to his heart than to see the brands of discord 
extinguished, and the convulsed Christian com- 
munity brought back to an agreement of mutual 
forbearance as respects controversies which do not 
shake the foundations of the true soul-saving faith. 
So intense was this desire, that the intemperate 



JAMES AEMINIUS. 381 

rage of denouncing dissentients, how trivial soever 
the point of difference, in matters of religious 
opinion, not unfrequently brought the tears to his 
eyes. Hence he often repeated, with deep emo- 
tion, the lament of Hilary, "that while one is 
launching anathemas upon another, and driving 
him from the communion of the Church, scarcely 
a single soul is gained to Christ."* 

He rarely indulged in rhetorical garniture, and 
in the fragrant fineries of the Greeks, either be- 
cause his nature was averse to such artifices, or 
because he deemed it derogatory to the majesty 
of Divine things to call into requisition those 
classic names and adscititious embellishments, when 
the naked truth was sufficient for its own defence. 
He set a high value, however, as appears from his 
correspondence with Drusius,f on the knowledge 
of the Hebrew and Oriental literature, by which 
not only the phrases of the sacred language, but 
also the antiquities of the ancient Church of the 
Jews, with their rites, manners, and customs, both 
sacred and civil, might be discovered and explained. 
This he judged useful, and necessary to the ideal 
of a consummate theologian ; and with those who 
attached little importance to these and kindred 
studies, he was in no small measure displeased. A 

* Uitenb. Hist. p. 483. f Epist. Eccles. p. 33. 



382 THE LIFE OP 

keen debater on points connected with religion, 
and expert in using the subtilties of adversaries 
against themselves, he was in other respects disin- 
clined to controversy, when no necessity for it 
existed ; and he strove to make every doctrine, 
and all the powers of his mind and genius, sub- 
serve the aim of leading a life worthy of a Chris- 
tian man. There was no air of haughtiness in his 
teaching j he was a mild and perspicuous interpre- 
ter of his thoughts ; in argument circumspect ; 
and so little inclined to self-confidence, that he 
refused to gratify the wishes of his importunate 
friends when they urged him to publish some 
work he had composed. On this very account, 
indeed, he was wont to tax with no small measure 
of imprudence his eminent colleague, L. Trelcatius, 
junior, for having published, in his youthful years, 
A Body of Christian Theology in which, in his judg- 
ment, he had written many things, indeed, well, 
but many more that were little in harmony with 
the Sacred Scriptures.* 

As during his life, so after his death, he under- 
went judgments, on the part of many, of the most 
conflicting kind. Scarcely had Peter Bertius paid 
the last honors to him in a funeral-oration, when 
Gomarus broke out against his deceased colleague, 

* Arminii Epist. ad Uitenb. 3 Kal. Septemb. 1604. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 383 

and the eulogizer of his virtues ; and in a treatise 
which he published against him, he detracted much 
from the merits of both. Yea, the very poem in 
which the honorable Hugh Grotius had celebrated 
Arminius, was to him a great eyesore : the follow- 
ing verses, in particular, drew from him some bit- 
ter remarks : 

Indigniore parte fractus et languens, 
Meliore sospes, ilia millibus multis 
Monstrata per te regna SOLUS arderes.* 

That word solus had excited much ill-feeling 
against this most celebrated poet, and also in rela- 
tion to Arminius himself; the truth being, that 
owing to the negligence of the compositor, or 
some other who superintended the publication, 
that word had crept in, totus being the word 
which should have occupied its place — a cir- 
cumstance of which Grotius himself informed 
Gomarus in the following letter, (now published 
for the first time,) in which he appropriately 



* " Broken and powerless in thy meaner part, (the body,) but sound 
in thy nobler part, (the soul,) thou wast all on fire (totus arderes) to 
gain those heavenly kingdoms to which, to many thousands, thou 
hadst pointed the way." Such was the meaning of Grotius. But the 
blundering substitution, by the printer, of "solus," "alone," for "to- 
tus," "entire," made him represent Arminius as the only man of his 
order who cherished those heavenly aspirations. We have given a 
metrical version of Grotius's elegiac poem at the end. The part here 
quoted -will be found in the 19th and 20th stanzas. — Te. 



38-1 THE LIFE OF 

takes upon himself the defence of his elegiac 
poem : 

" To that Reverend and most distinguished man, 
Francis Gomarus, professor of theology in the 
Leyden Academy : 
" I suppose, Reverend Sir, that you have seen 
my verses on the death of Arminius, in which if 
there be any thing that has pleased you, it will be 
very gratifying to me. But what has, I under- 
stand, proved displeasing to you, is also, I assure 
you, displeasing to me. I had written to the 
effect that your colleague, overwhelmed as he 
Was with affliction toward the end, was altogether 
(totus) — meaning as far as in him lay — inflamed 
with the desire of the better life in heaven. What 
evil hand it was that out of my word totus (whole) 
made solus, (sole,) I do not know; a mistake so fool- 
ish, as it appears to me, that it can admit of no good 
sense. Whoever he is, I marvel at his audacity 
and stupidity in being so awkwardly officious in 
regard to the production of another. And even if 
any emendation had been required, I ought to have 
been consulted. Immediately after the publication, 
I uttered the complaint to the most learned Hein- 
sius, and other friends, that my publishers had be- 
trayed in this place a lack of fidelity, as in many 
other places they had betrayed a lack of diligence. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 385 

"At all events, what I proposed to myself in 
praising Arminius was this : that to the man to 
whom when living I could refuse no kind of ser- 
vice, (for I knew him, though only as I knew 
many others, without being on terms of close 
intimacy,) I should, now that he is dead, render 
this tribute — which I was conscious of being able 
with all sincerity to do — to that far-from-ordinary 
cast of genius, and transparent kind of eloquence, 
which I always admired in him. I added that 
both in those things in which he defended the 
truth so strenuously against the Pope, and in 
those other things in which it was more possible 
for him to err, he did nothing from a hardened 
impulse contrary to the dictates of conscience. 
This was a judgment which charity dictated to 
me ; as also that other, namely, that Arminius, 
particularly as death drew near, had bent his 
wishes toward the peace of the Church. 

" But as to the points of difference between you 
and Arminius, and between many good men, with 
these I am neither sufficiently acquainted, nor, if 
I were, would I rashly intermeddle. That matter 
has its own appropriate judges. To us, occupied 
as we are with other things, it is allowable, as I 
trust, with the kind favor of God, to continue 
ignorant in respect to many things, and in respect 
to many others to withhold our assent. But 
17 



386 THELIFEOF 

although I do not build on human authority, this 
nevertheless I am free to avow, that in those 
points on which I entertain doubt, it is not easy 
for me to become wrenched from the opinions of 
those whom the Church has hitherto acknowledged 
to have been the pioneers of her restored purity. 
Many precepts, in particular, of Doctor Francis 
Junius, whose memory I hold sacred, remain 
indelibly in my mind. But then, in all such con- 
troversies I invariably incline to that side which 
attributes most to Divine grace, and least to our- 
selves. These dissensions grieve me; but the 
Church has never been long without them, and 
never will. It remains that we bear one with 
another, and that, among the many things which 
human infirmity renders uncertain, we hold those 
for certain on which rests the hope of our salva- 
tion. 

" Meanwhile, Reverend Sir, I pray God that he 
may direct your labors toward that which I doubt 
not is your aim — the tranquillity of the Church 
and the confirmation of sound doctrine. 

"One who regards your name with the utmost 
respect, H. Grotius." 

But those same adversaries with whom he had so 
often, on past occasions, come into collision, tread- 
ing in the foots eps of Gomarus, traduced him as 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 387 

" a man, indeed, of somewhat practiced intellect, 
but whom nothing pleased except what recom- 
mended itself by some appearance of novelty; 
so much so, that he appeared to loathe many doc- 
trines received in the churches, even on this very 
ground, that they had been received."* Among 
strangers, too, were found some who, misled by a 
certain blind prejudice, and attributing undue im- 
portance to the clamors of sundry zealots, charac- 
terized him as "an enemy of God ; a man of crafty 
intellect; who had done all things dexterously; 
who, Ham-like, had exposed the nakedness of his 
fathers ; and who, in a detestable manner, through 
the side of the holiest leaders of the Reformation, 
had dealt a stab at the very body of the Reformed 
Church." John Hoornbeck writes that Arminius 
was much too confident in his own speculations, 
and showed himself much too eager to demolish 
all else. And more : appropriating the words of 
Tacitus, he calls him a covenant-breaker, who, for- 
swearing the faith which he had pledged both to 
God and the Church, had begun, first secretly, then 
openly, both by himself, and by his disciples and 
abettors, to disturb and subvert the faith of the 
churches and the doctrine of Christ ; and not the 
churches only, but civil politics also, in his nefari- 

* Prsefat. Synodi Dordrac. 



388 THE LIFE OP 

ous attempt ; and that he would have succeeded, 
had not God interposed his aid at that perilous 
crisis.* 

On the other hand, as Arminius himself had 
abundantly refuted these accusations, and many 
others of the same kind, so at this time also Ber- 
tius, Uitenbogaert, Simon Episcopius, Corvinus, 
Narsius, Courcelles, Poelenburg, and others, un- 
dertook the vindication of his blessed memory; 
and for this reason they began to receive from 
their adversaries the designation of Arminians. 

First of all, let us listen to Arnold Poelenburg, 
that most worthy champion of the Remonstrants, 
as he pleads the cause of Arminius against the 
charges of Hoornbeck. Preferring to the passage 
just cited, "Behold," he exclaims, "with how 
great a rage of calumniation he [Hoornbeck] 
burns ! For what could he mean by traducing 
Arminius, of pious memory, after his death, as 
one 'who trusted to his own speculations,' when 
he, too, acknowledged the Sacred Scriptures to be 
the only rule of his faith, and had greatly the 
better of his opponents, at once in the number 
and in the weight of his testimonies ? What 
could be his object in declaring that Arminius 
'showed himself much too eager to demolish all 

+ Vide Arn. Poelenb. Epist. ad C. H. in qua liber 8, summse con- 
troYersiarum Hoornbeequii, refellitur Amstelod. 1655, pag. 5. 



JAMES AEMIJflUS. 389 

else/ when nothing lay nearer his heart than to 
get the Church restored to her pristine purity and 
peace ? But on reading those statements in which 
he brands Arminius, the best of men, as 'a cove- 
nant-breaker/ I was utterly horror-struck, and 
much at a loss to divine whence a degree of 
audacity so great and so extraordinary had come 
to be generated in a man speaking things that 
were false, and maintaining an unjust cause. For 
why is that man to be called a covenant-breaker 
who defends with all his might the covenant which 
God has struck with the entire human race? 
After this, there is no reason why he should not 
brand almost all the ancient Fathers as covenant- 
breakers; for they either knew not, or they op- 
posed, absolute predestination. But I think I can 
discern to what he refers — namely, to this, that 
Arminius did not subscribe to the Belgic Confes- 
sion and Catechism. But it had already been 
answered, that very many traces of our opinion 
are to be found in these writings. Besides, Ar- 
minius had never so enslaved his faith to any 
human composition as to imply that such was 
not, at all times, to be weighed in the balance of 
Scripture. "What ! is Hoornbeck prepared to call 
Luther, Musculus, and many more, 'covenant- 
breakers,' because, when bound by vows to the 
Papacy, they felt unable with a sound conscience 



390 THE LIFE OF 

to remain in the Papacy ? For as formerly, and 
still, the Papists, so the Reformed of the day, 
unhappily defend certain grievous errors of their 
own, under cover of the Holy Scriptures errone- 
ously understood; although, we own, not alto- 
gether after the same fashion. Let that liberty, 
then, be conceded to Arminius which has been 
conceded to numerous others before him. For my 
part, I maintain, that to a man of high standing, 
and endowed with distinguished gifts, it is not 
only allowable, but, by virtue of his office, it is also 
incumbent upon him, to oppose with all his might 
prevailing errors which had come to be regarded 
as necessary truth."* 

But not to insist on the testimonies of Remon- 
strants, in what esteem the name of Arminius — 
to many so hateful — continued to be held by the 
honorable curators of the Academy, will be appa- 
rent from the fact that to his widow, Elizabeth 
Real, and to her fatherless children, whom they 
took under their protection, they assigned a hand- 
some annuity; and that very dignified body, the 
Senatus Academicus, in compliance with their 
request, at once furnished them with the following 
testimony to the deceased : 

"The Rector Magniflc and Senatus of the 

* A. Poelenb. Epist. ut supra, p. 6, 7. 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 391 

Academy of Leyden-in-Hollancl, to all and sun- 
dries who may read or hear this testimony, greet- 
ing: 

" Inasmuch as it has seemed good to Almighty 
God to call that distinguished and reverend man, 
James Arminius, Doctor of Sacred Theology, and 
Professor in Ordinary of that Faculty in this our 
Academy, away from that professorship which, 
for a series of years in which he thus acted, he 
exercised with singular assiduity, and with the 
applause of his hearers, into the celestial country, 
and to grant him an everlasting release and im- 
munity from those protracted labors which he 
sustained both in the Church and in the Academy; 
and seeing that the surviving widow of this same 
deceased man, of most blessed memory, together 
with the children which she had by him, has 
requested, as a debt to his eminent virtues, 
that the Senatus would furnish her with a tes- 
timonial — a request which, considering the many 
distinguished endowments of that man, appears 
to us to be naught else than just; we will- 
ingly contribute the last office which it is in 
our power to discharge to his very dearly cher- 
ished memory. We testify, therefore, that the 
said James Arminius, D.D., led such a life in this 
our Academy as to teach Sacred Theology, (for we 
leave controversies to others,) both in public and 



392 THE LIFE OF 

in private, with the utmost assiduity and dili- 
gence.* And besides, in the Senatus Academicus, 
as became an eminently wise and prudent man, he 
maintained, by his judgment, counsel, and author- 
ity, that place and dignity which was due at once 
to himself and to the whole honorable order; and 
to public matters which fell to be transacted by us 
in our assembled capacity he was ever ready to 
postpone those which were personal and private. 
Whatever he thought conducive to the interests 
of the Academy, he frankly propounded : what- 
ever he deemed the contrary, to that with the like 
freedom he declared himself opposed. He did 
not stain his most sacred profession with any spot 
or blemish, in manners of life ; but, as was incum- 
bent on an upright man, he maintained a demeanor 
in harmony with his calling and office. As be- 
came a diligent teacher, he instructed the youth 
intrusted to his charge with assiduity and zeal. 
For these reasons we entreat all and sundries to 
speak and think of the same James Arminius, D.D., 
a man of blessed memory, in such a manner as 
his erudition, his work performed in this our Aca- 
demy, and his excellence, deserve. Which testi- 
mony we have ordered to be certified by the hand 

* It is to be observed that this same formula also occurs in the 
testimony which the Senatus Academicus gave to Gomarus, when he 
left for Middelburgh. 



JAMES ARM IN I US. 393 

of our Secretary, and to be further ratified and 
confirmed by our common seal. 

"Compared with the original, and copied in 
terms of the same order of the Rector Magnific 
and the Senatus Academicus, by 

"Daniel Heinsius." 

To this very honorable testimonial of the Sena- 
tus, which is preserved to this day among the 
archives of the Leyden Academy, it may be well 
to add some individual testimonies with which 
several very eminent men, unfettered by the par- 
tialities of sect, honored him, both during his life 
and after his death. 

The truly illustrious Scaliger, though suffi- 
ciently chary of praising others, calls him "a very 
great man." Meursius assigns him "a most pene- 
trating intellect and judgment."* The very cele- 
brated Drusius classes him among "the learned 
and candid men" to whose judgment he readily 
submitted his writings. 

In that epistle to the States-General, in which 
the distinguished Baud dedicates to their name his 
elegiac poem on the death of Arminius, he calls 
him "his reverend colleague, an excellent man, 
whom, when alive, he embraced in his sincere affec- 



* Vide Scaligerana. Meursii Athense Bat. p. li 

17* 



394 THE LIFE OF 

tion, and whom, now that he is dead, he continued 
to esteem as a man abounding in extraordinary 
endowments of mind and learning ;" and in a letter 
to Uitenbogaert he follows up his praises of the 
deceased with these words : " He was never legiti- 
mately convicted of, or condemned for, any error. 
Yea, to his last breath he adorned the post which 
by the decree of the curators and of our rulers he 
had obtained, and he died in the possession of 
rightful office ; so that all good men, for the best 
of reasons, ought to cherish his memory with 
every feeling of favorable regard. For myself, 
I am left with a mournful sense of his loss ; and 
nothing did I so eagerly desire as to see that day 
on which his innocence might be vindicated from 
rumors so invidiously circulated and so rashly 
believed."* 

The celebrated Anthony Thysius, also, between 
whom and Arminius, while alive, much intimacy 
subsisted, was wont, on repeated occasions, to 
declare respecting him, " that he had never seen a 
man endowed with more or with greater virtues, 
and chargeable with fewer or more trivial faults. "f 
Richard Thompson, too, that great luminary of the 
English Church, making mention of Arminius in a 
certain letter to Dominic Baud, dated July 27, 

* Epist. Eecles. p. 239. f Epist. Eccles. p. 327. 



JAMES AKMINIUS. 395 

1605, thus speaks: "What you write concerning 
Arminius I gratefully acknowledge, although the 
fame of that man is not so imperfectly known 
among us as you seem to imagine. For even to 
me he was formerly very well known, before he 
had yet become a professor among you ; and from 
the time that he did, he began to be well known 
in this country and many others besides. Hence, 
as often as any scholars visited us from your 
country, our professors made diligent inquiry re- 
specting Arminius. I am truly glad, therefore, 
on behalf of your Academy, which contains so 
great a man."* To this may be added the testi- 
mony of John Buxtorf, professor in the Academy 
of Basle, who, on being apprised of his death, 
wrote to Uitenbogaert in these terms : " The un- 
looked-for extinction of so truly great a luminary 
of the far-famed Belgium as James Arminius, fills, 
as it well may, my mind with grief, both as a com- 
mon calamity to the Church of Christ, and as a 
melancholy breaking-ofif of the first approaches I 
had made toward the acquaintance of so great a 
man. For I hoped to see him put in that place in 
my esteem which was occupied by that illustrious 
hero, the learned Scaliger, of pious memory, who — 
for me, alas, too suddenly — has also been snatched 
from the stage of time."f 

* Epist. Eccles. p. 148. f Epist. Eccles. p. 244. 



396 THELIFEOF 

The ver} r erudite Isaac Causabon unites also in 
this tribute to Arminius. In a letter of his sent 
from Paris to Samuel Naeranus, dated July 28, 
1610, these words occur : " That Arminius, now 
in glory, of whom you make mention, was a great 
man, I do not doubt; although I have never as 
yet found any of our pastors who did not re- 
gard him as an infamous heretic, their standard 
of truth being the opinion of Calvin. For Calvin 
I am conscious of a profound respect ; but still I 
cannot away with those who rancor ously hate all 
who dissent from him."* Nay, M. Martinius 
himself, who was afterward present at the Synod 
of Dort, and was no mean member, and into whose 
bosom Arminius, a few weeks before his death, 
and already sick, had poured his complaints re- 
specting the calumnies that were fabricated against 
him, expressed this thoroughly candid and unso- 
phisticated opinion of the man : " He seemed to 
me," says he, "to be a man that truly feared God; 
most erudite, most practiced in theological contro- 
versies; mighty in the Scriptures; very circum- 
spect, and precise in applying philosophical terms 
to theological subjects. "f 

At length, that the memorial of so dear a head 
might never be lost to after ages, his relatives 

* Epist. Eccles. p. 249 f Epist. Eccles. p. 238, 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 397 

published his portrait, cut in brass, with this in- 
scription : 

"Qui nunc per altas aurei coeli domos 
Regnat beatus, et suo junctus Deo 
Humana celsus spernit, et nescit simul, 
Sic Hospes, ora Magnus Arminius tulit. 
Cselare mores atque dotes ingeni 
Doctumque pectus, quod fuit (sed heu fuit!) 
Magnus nequivit artifex: et quid manus, 
Efferre cum non lingua, non stilus queant."* 

Among those of his countrymen who stood high 
in rank and office, he had attached most closely to 
himself these honorable Senators and Burgomas- 
ters, namely, Nicholas Cromhout, Adrian Junius, 
Sebastian Egberts, Rombout Hogerbeets, and one 
who of all his defenders and patrons held by no 
means the last place, William Bardesius, Lord of 
Warmhusen. This man cherished and evinced a 
steadfast affection for Arminius : when debilitated 
under his slow and lingering malady, with the 

* These Latin verses may be thus rendered into English : 
Beyond these orbs that gild the ethereal dome, 

Joined to his God, his toils and conflicts o'er, 
The great Arminius, in that blissful home, 

Still lives and reigns, though seen on earth no more. 
Such, stranger, were the traits which here he wore; 

But, ah ! to sketch the beauties of that heart 
And learned mind whose loss we now deplore, 

Transcends the able limner's loftiest art. 
What neither pen can write nor tongue can say, 
The feebler hand presumes not to portray. — Tk. 



398 THE LIFE OF 

utmost affection he took him to his manor as soon 
as his disease, and the state of the climate, and 
intervals of respite would permit ; and after the 
removal of Arminius from this lower stage, he 
showed the same kindness to his widow and 
afflicted family, and embodied it in many substan- 
tial proofs. 

In addition to John Uitenbogaert, so often men- 
tioned in this memoir — whom he was wont to call 
his sheet-anchor, as one to whom he might betake 
himself for counsel and aid — among the friends 
who were knit to him in bonds of special intimacy, 
the following held a principal place, namely : the 
celebrated John Drusius, Conrad Vorstius, An- 
thony Thysius, John Halsberg, Peter Bertius, 
Adrian Borrius, John Arnold Corvinus, and other 
two whom he loved as a brother and a son : to-wit, 
Rembert and Simon Episcopius, the former a mer- 
chant of Amsterdam, of cultivated understanding 
and exalted piety, the latter the most distin- 
guished of his disciples, and who, at a subsequent 
period, in consideration of the extraordinary en- 
dowments of mind and genius which Divine Provi- 
dence had heaped upon him, was judged worthy 
to fill the office of his deceased preceptor. 

These are the things which I have judged neces- 
sary to be said respecting James Arminius, whose 



JAMES ARMINIUS. 399 

piety and simple virtue never courted any cele- 
brity on the earth, much less that a sect should 
he called by his name. This, indeed, after all 
things had become convulsed, actually happened 
subsequently to his death; the Christian com- 
munity having suffered a lamentable rent, for 
which, as matters now stand — unless God inter- 
pose in behalf of his Church — the long-looked-for 
day of remedy may not speedily arrive. 



THE END, 



APPEND IS. 401 



APPENDIX. 



Beandt has appended to his memoir the two Latin 
poems by Baud and Grotius, on the death of Arminius, 
to which he refers, p. 377. Baud's poem is very long, 
occupying twenty pages of the original, and containing 
some six hundred lines. It is, moreover, in its tone, 
somewhat equivocal and temporizing ; and elicited, in 
consequence, a complaint from the true and magnani- 
mous Uitenbogaert, to which Baud replies in a strain of 
profoundest respect, both for him and the deceased 
Arminius ; declaring that of all his old friends they 
were the two that stood highest in his esteem, and that 
he had advanced nothing in his poem which could sus- 
tain a single sinister inference in regard to Arminius. 
The truth is, Dominic Baud, like Daniel Heinsius, 
though conscious of the sincerest friendship and respect 
for Arminius, gave way, after his death, to that violent 
pressure of the times to which Arminius himself had 
" fallen a blessed martyr." Baud's poem contains many 



402 APPENDIX. 

bold and masterly passages, that abound in vigorous 
thought and lofty imagery. "We had translated the 
larger half of it into English verse, with a view to its 
insertion in this Appendix; but, on second thoughts, 
we have concluded to let that pass as labor lost. Its 
great length, to mention no other consideration, would 
make it out of all proportion. 

The poem of Grotius, on the other hand, is of suffi- 
ciently moderate limits to make its insertion here con- 
sistent with the scope and symmetry of the volume ; 
while the transcendent lustre of his name, and his well- 
known attachment to the Arminian cause, lend a pecu- 
liar interest and charm to his verses on Arminius. For 
the sake of those, accordingly, for whom this little work 
is specially intended, we have in this instance, also — ■ 
though profoundly sensible of the difficulty and deli- 
cacy of the task — done our best to present the lines of 
Grotius in faithful English, in the following metrical 
version. — Te.: 

ELEGIAC POEM OF HUGH GROTIUS, ON THE DEATH OP 
ARMINIUS. 

Deep searcher in the mine of truth profound ; 

Spirit sublime, with various learning stored; 
For keen-edged perspicacious wit renowned : 

Arminius, thee we mourn — loss deplored ! 

From this dark world, and from the turbid throng 
Of dim-eyed mortals, thou hast winged thy flight, 

And rangest now, with vision pure and strong, 
The sunny fields of beatific light. 



APPENDIX. 403 

Whether for truth thou gain'dst some trophies fair, 
Spurning the yoke on tamer necks that pressed, 

Or erred in aught, as man may err, declare 
Ye who have right to judge, and skill to test. 

Yet -well we know what hours by thee were spent 
O'er God's own book, enslaved to no man's creed; 

And now, of conscience pure and high intent, 

Thou bear'st, by Heaven's award, the glorious meed. 

There, filled with peace and joy, 'tis thine to know 
What here thy thoughts explored with toil and pain: 

Thou seest what shades enwrap all minds below ; 
What wears the name of knowledge here, how vain. 

Yet, proud thereof, aloft we raise our head, 
And spurn our fellows, who return the same. 

Hence wars polemic, furious, rise and spread; 
Hence hate plebeian stirs and feeds the flame. 

And sacred Truth, of sacred Peace the friend, 
Deigns not her presence there, but flies afar. 

Ah, why does lust of strife men's bosom rend? 
And will the God of peace be pleased with war? 

Whence such untempered zeal, such parties new? 

Hath Satan sowed these tares 'neath mask of night ? 
Must men's dire passions feed on aught they view, 

And God's own cause afford them scope to fight? 

Or does this prying world, that dares to tread 

Where even to angels all access is barred, 
And snatch forbidden knowledge, serpent-led, 

Reap in these sad debates its due reward? 

As when at Shinar, in that structure proud, 

Men thought to pile a stepway to the sky, 
Their thousand tongues dispersed the impious crowd, 

And all their schemes in babbling strife did die. 



404 APPENDIX. 

Ah ! know we what we do ? The little flock 
Elected from the world, in Jesus' fold, 

Each other rend, in foul and frequent shock, 
While Moslems smile, and Jews with joy behold ! 

Happy the simple, pure, and artless faith, 
From faction free, and meretricious dress, 

Which sees sin put away by Jesus' death, 
And trusts in his atoning righteousness: 

Which sees salvation free — all gifts above, 

And doom ordained for those who doom deserve; 

Which plies the gentle part of holy love, 
Nor seeks to soar, so much as lowly serve 

Nor asks too far if adamantine laws 

Fix all events: — How God, all sinless still, 

Wills sin?— How not? — How far the Great First Cause 
Bends by his sovereign nod the human will? 

And happy he whom no ambitious ends, 
Nor gain, nor empty plaudits turn aside ; 

But, fired with heavenly zeal, still heavenward tends, 
And studies God where God himself doth guide. 

Threading with cautious steps life's 'wildered maze, 
Through fatal snares his course he daily winds ; 

While Freedom, tempered with Love's gentle rays, 
Secures his concord with dissentient minds. 

True piety and justice he maintains — 

Condemned by men, himself condemning none; 

Now speaks for Truth, and now for Peace refrains, 
Still watchful each presumptuous path to shun. 

Oft didst thou urge these truths, Arminius dear — 
In public oft, as thousands can declare; 

In private, too — yea, when thine end drew near, 
Thy parting breath still urged these counsels fair. 



APPENDIX. 405 

With life's protracted ills out-worn and spent, 

Tired of a world of pertinacious strife, 
Though crushed thy meaner part like shattered tent, 

Thy nobler part, unscathed, aspired to life. 

Full spread, it longed to gain those kingdoms bright 
To which to thousands thou didst point the way ; 

And now arrived, another star of light, 
It gems the temple of eternal day. 

There dost thou pray, that to his flock below 
God would such light as here they need impart ; 

And curb their restless wish aught more to know ; 
And send them teachers after his own heart : 

Would all men's hearts (if not all tongues) unite ; 

And Strife dispel, before Love's ardors driven ; 
That Christ's whole Church, at one, may, in his light, 

Approve their life to earth, their faith to heaven. 

EPITAPH. 

Subtile in intellect, and great in speech, 
But careful most his life to regulate, 
Arminius, dead, thus speaks, thus all would teach, 

(Of life approved, and matchless in debate:) 
'I, as in life, in death this counsel give — 
Be less disposed to aegue than to live." 



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method and proofs are eminently striking. * * * The work is valuable 
ns a doctrinal treatise, and is a seasonable addition to Methodist theo- 
logical literature. We commend it to the Church, to all whose views are 
unsettled on the subject, and especially to those who differ with us conccrn- 
hig it." — Southern Methodist Quarterly. 



PUBLICATIONS OF THE M. B. CHURCH, SOUTH. 



HYMNS FOR SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES, specially designed for tha 
Children of the ChurcL Edited by Thos. 0. Summers. Net price 
to Sunday-schools: boaiJs, 10 cents; roan, 21 cents. Retail, 30 
cents ; roan gilt, 50 cents ; morocco, 75 cents. The fine ones are 
gems. The book consists of 384 pages, and contains 600 Hymns, 

"As its title indicates, it is a collection especially designed for the child- 
ron of the Church, and it has been compiled with the ability, research, 
and taste which characterize the labors of the accomplished editor in the 
de].artnient of hymnology. We are not saying too much for it, when we 
"affirm that it leaves nothing to be desiderated hereafter in this line."- 
Southern Christian Advocate. 

THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER; or, the Catechetical Office. By 
Thos. 0. Summers. 18mo, pp. 144. Price 30 cents. 

This work discusses the most interesting questions connected with the 
Catechetical System — the Teacher's Qualifications, Difficulties, and Encour- 
agements. It exhibits the obligations of pastors and teachers to the 
children of the Church, and shows how they may be discharged. 

OLD MICHAEL AND YOUNG MAURICE; or, Country Scenes ir- 
England. 18mo, pp. 178. Price 30 cents. 

A truthful, fascinating, and instructive volume. 

TALKS, PLEASANT AND PROFITABLE. By Thos. 0. Summers 
18mo, pp. 146. Price 30 cents. 

The topics of these dialogues are Orphans, May-Day, Birds, Tempe- 
rance, Peter and the Tribute-money, Retribution, Recognition of Friend? 
in Heaven. The style is adapted to the minds of intelligent youth 
The engravings are handsome. 

THE WORLD OF WATERS. By Fanny Osborne. With Illustrations 
Two vols. 18mo, pp. 186, 224. Price 60 cents. 

A couple of fascinating and instructive volumes. The tales and narra- 
tives beguile, like sailors' yarns, the voyage over the world of waters. The 
descriptions and anecdotes blend the charm of romance with the credi- 
bility of truth. 

SCRIPTURE VIEWS OF THE HEAVENLY WORLD. By J. Edmondson, 
A.M. 18mo, pp. 249. Price 35 cents. 

A neat edition of a book which takes rank with Baxter's Saints' Rest- 
to which great work it is in some respeets superior. 

TRIAL OF THE WITNESSES OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 
By Bishop Sherlock. With an Introduction by Thos. 0. Summers 
18mo, pp. 137. Price 30 cents. 

This masterly work is got up in convenient form and beautiful style. 
The Introduction contains a jrief biography of the illustrious author. 



3477 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 

Treatment r>ate- March ?006 



